Of Protectors and Families
by kira66
Summary: When Sunnydale sank into the Earth, the Scoobies expected things to be different, calmer. But when Xander receives some startling news, he and Buffy embark on a new chapter of their lives that is anything but calm.
1. Chapter 1

"Whatcha reading, Xand?" Buffy asked as she entered the study with a plate piled high with sandwiches. After placing the plate on the coffee table in front of her Xander-shaped friend, she sat down beside him on the leather couch. "Is it from Giles? Is it another assignment because if it is he promised to stop being all James Bondsey and just call us." She babbled.

"I can safely say that this is _not _from the G-man." Xander replied without looking away from the papers he was reading. "Unless Giles has changed his name to State of New York without telling us." Transferring the papers to one hand he used his, now, free hand to snag a sandwich.

Buffy seriously considered the notion for a brief second then shook her head. "Nawh, Giles doesn't like America enough to name himself after one of its states." She leaned closer to her friend, trying to get a glimpse of the papers. "So...the State of New York just wanted to say hi or what? Or is it about the towels you stole from the New York Hilton the last time we were there? I told you they could track them down!"

Xander finished the turkey sandwich in two bites, he was really hungry. "It isn't about the towels. Why must you always bring that up? You stole a robe, did it ever occur to you that they could, maybe, track it as well? Hm?" He shook his head at having been drawn into her little world. "Anyways, the State of New York isn't writing me. It's from a woman by the name of Mary Jentry from Children Protective Services located in New York City. Apparently she just got promoted and was cleaning out the office of her predecessor when she stumbled upon a number of documents pertaining to yours truly."

"Pertaining to you? Like you have a kid or something?" Buffy asked, uncertain Could her best friend have a kid and not even know it? Better yet, how could he have a kid and _she_ not know about it?

"Ah, no." Xander shook his head, more than once to prove his point. "No little Xanders running around out there unclaimed. Actually, she sent me a copy of one of the documents." He passed the page in question to her. "Can you tell me what that looks like to you, college girl?"

Buffy took the offered page and glared at him. "Never gonna let me live that down are you?" She moved her eyes to the paper and skimmed over it. "Well, it appears to be your birth certificate." She paused. "Why would she have your birth certificate?"

Xander grinned. "Of course not. It's not everyday that my best friend gets her college degree from Oxford. And by doing so makes her extremely average friends look below average." He ignored her question for the moment and posed one of his own. "How'd she know where to find me?"

"Well before we left Cleveland and settled here in jolly old England we left our addresses at the post office, remember? It's called a forwarding address so all she had to do was look up your name and** bam** she knows where you live." Buffy explained then switched topics. "My going to Oxford caused you to be below average? You must be way below since Willow also finished up there _and_ Dawn is currently attending along with Andrew." She patted his arm. "You should be drooling and going poopoo in your trousers any day now, huh?"

"Yes, make fun of the poor one-eyed contractor." Xander pouted. "Did you just say trousers?" He asked once the entire conversation caught up to him. "I can't help it that I somehow managed to surround myself with highly intelligent woman. Some men would kill to be in my shoes, you know?" He grumped.

Buffy rolled her eyes and looked back to the paper. "I've live in England for three years, it's only natural I picked up some of their words." She shook the paper. "So again, why does this strange woman from New York have a copy of your birth certificate?" She looked more closely at the paper. "Your middle name is LaVelle?" She made a face but didn't say anything else.

Xander frowned and laid the other papers onto the coffee table beside the plate of sandwiches. "Well, according to her, she has a copy because I'm adopted."


	2. Chapter 2

Clearing her throat, Buffy broke the stretching silence. "Adopted?" She asked once the shock wore off. "As in the Harris' got you from some Agency?"

"That's the only kind of adoption I know of. Unless you think they went to the local pound and..." Xander trailed off as he sat back on the couch, his appetite gone. "You know, when I was little I always used to pretend that I was adopted. Never actually thought it would turn out to be true though."

Buffy frowned at his tone of voice. "How do you know that it _is _true? What do you know about this Jentry lady anyways? How do you know she isn't some evil...thing...person? Maybe she's a demon? Want me to slay her for you?" She asked, hopefully.

Xander smiled. "A demon who lies about adoptions?" He raised an eyebrow. "Kinda a lame gig, don'tcha think? Was all the good bloody jobs taken? Or did she get the short straw?" Now he was making fun of her.

"I'm serious Xander. All I'm saying is you shouldn't believe her right away. She might be up to no good. Or do I have to remind you about the seemingly harmless costume shop and the ever so helpful Mister Raynes? Or the substitute science teacher who turned out to be a giant praying mantis that got her rocks off by beheading her virgin boytoys? Or how about the _preacher_ that hated woman so much that...should I go on?" Buffy tilted her head to the side as she waited for him to get her point.

"No, no need to go on. I get it, the moral of the story is don't trust anybody because they could turn out to be a demon who wants to eat your head." Xander held up his hands in surrender. "So...we should get Willow to check her out?"

Buffy nodded, glad that he understood. "We'll have Wil check her out then _we'll_ check her out."

Xander's eyes lit up. "Do I sense a field trip in our future?" He rubbed his hands together in glee.

"Mm." Buffy was already in planning mode. "I'll have Wil take care of the travel arrangements." Her planning was interrupted when the door to the study opened.

"Ms. Summers?" A small, hesitant, voice asked from just outside the door. "Jenise sent me to tell you that Li isn't in her room again."

"Li? Isn't she the new girl from...China, Beijing right?" Xander asked Buffy as some of his glee faded as the real word, literally, came aknocking.

Buffy sighed. "Yeah, she's a newby that Faith just dropped off last week. There was another girl..." She stood and peered out into the darkened hallway to see who her messenger was. "Andira? Could you come in here, please?"

Andira was the youngest, at nine, of the slayers currently attending Summerlande Academy's European branch. "Yes, Ms. Summers?" She questioned as she stepped into the private study. "Good evening, Mister Harris." She greeted the dark haired instructor.

Xander gave the girl a small smile. "What did I tell you about the Mister part? Do I look like a Mister to you...don't answer that. Just call me Xander, please."

"The girl that came in with Li, what was her name?" Buffy questioned the little girl.

"Aleksandra, I...I think." Andira answered after a moment of thinking it over. "Her and Li aren't friends if that is what your thinking. Alek doesn't even speak English so I don't think she's made any friends."

"We're trying to locate a translator for her but not many people have the qualifications for the job." Buffy felt a headache coming on. "Okay, tell Jenise to give her until morning to show up and if she hasn't then come get me, alright?"

Andira nodded and quickly left the two adults alone, closing the door behind her on her way out.

"Give her until morning to show?" Xander asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is it wise to wait?"

Buffy shrugged and sat back down beside her friend. "Li is fifteen years old." She gave as an explanation.

Xander blinked. "Oh, that explains it." He said, sarcastically.

"Do you remember what it was like to be fifteen? Or a teenager for that matter?" Buffy asked after she smacked him on the arm. "She's new here, trying to fit in, I imagine she's just testing the rules. She'll be back before midnight." She said with confidence. "Now, back to our planning."

"During the earlier planning did either of us remember that we have responsibilities here? Can we just up and go?" Xander asked.

Buffy hated it when Xander acted his age. "We can and we are. Giles will be back from his fact finding tour on Thursday...which is two days from now. I think it's time he tried his hand at being Headmaster, why should I always be the one having _all_ the fun? He can watch over the girls and make sure they don't demolish the school. Um...Dawn and Andrew can take over our duties until we return." She liked her idea.

Xander blinked, he did that a lot when having a conversation with Buffy. "Dawn and Andrew are away at school, how can they take over our duties when they ain't even here?"

"Well, Wil and I both managed so I guess Dawn and Andrew will too." Buffy declared. "I think the two of them will jump at the chance to get their hands dirty. And this way they get a taste of what awaits them when they finish furthering their educations."

"What makes you think they'll want to work at Summerlande when they finish school?" Xander asked.

Buffy smirked. "Because they don't got a choice. This is a family run school and the kids know it. This is our legacy, remember? Now enough about the younglings lets get back to our trip planning. Do you think Mrs. Jentry will mind a visit?"

Xander shook his head. "As a matter of fact she invited me to her office to review the documents she found."

"Probably so she can rip out your ribs and wear them like a hat." Buffy mumbled under her breath.

"Hey, I heard that!" Xander jumped up and backed away from his friend. "There is not enough eww's for that mental picture. You scarred me! For life even!"

Buffy laughed and stood, a wicked grin transforming her face. "I'll race ya to the video phone. Last one there has to talk to Kennedy!" She took off running for the door in which she threw open and darted out.

Xander was hot on her heels. "I'm telling Willow on you and she's going to turn you into a toad with lots and lots of warts!"

Only about a handful of bedroom doors opened so that the occupants could see what all the commotion was about. Everybody else was used to the childish behavior exhibited, quite frequently, by the Head Slayer and the Senior Watcher.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, how is Kennedy these days?" Buffy asked Xander once they had boarded the plane bound for New York. He hadn't spoken to her for three days, ever since he lost the race to the phone and had to talk to Willow's disgruntled ex; a conversation that lasted four hours and had put him in a foul mood for the entire next day.

Xander huffed from the next seat. He should have guessed Buffy would ask him again about the conversation when he had absolutely _no_ place to hide. "She's going to stake herself unless Willow takes her back. So I'm going to say depressed with a slight inkling of crazy bitch."

Buffy chuckled and rolled her eyes. "What did Wil ever see in her anyways? I mean, even Faith thought she was a whining, spoiled, little brat and _that's_ saying something."

"In my world I like to think she dated Kennedy because she knew her crush on you wouldn't lead anywhere. It's weird, I know, but it helps me sleep at night." Xander told her, honestly.

"_That_ helps you sleep at night?" Buffy eyed him for a moment. "I fear you." She said, seriously, unconsciously repeating something she said way back in high school.

Xander smiled at her and settled back in his seat to watch the cheesy in-flight movie, _without _headphones.

"Buffy? Buffy Summers is that you?!" An overly chipper voice called across the isle of the first class seats.

Buffy jumped at the sudden usage of her name. "Yeah, Buffy is me." She turned her head to see who had recognized her. Scanning the faces on the other side of the plane, she finally landed on a woman, about her age, with blonde, curly, hair and a overly eager smile plastered on her tanned face. "Do I know you?"

The woman made the man, a boyfriend or husband by the looks of things, witch seats with her so she could talk across the isle without interruption. "Amanda Berkley or Renalds now." She held out her hand to show off her large diamond ring. Amanda lowered her hand when Buffy made no movement to look but it didn't deter her. "We went to high school together." She added for good measure.

"We did?" Buffy asked, skeptically. She searched her mind for any memories of this woman but came up empty. "You were in Mister Seavers class, right?" Not wanting to sound rude she threw out a safe bet since every student at Sunnydale High had Mister Seavers' health class senior year.

"Who?" Amanda shook her head. "We were on the cheerleading squad together, remember?" She frowned at the blank look she was getting, they _had_ been friends for goodness sake. "At Hemery?"

Buffy wanted to smack herself in the head. "Right." She searched through her pre-Sunndydale memories and finally found the girl and it surprised her to see that they had been friends. "Giggles Berkley, how _have_ you been?" She asked using the old nickname that the other girl had been so fond of way back when.

Amanda smiled at the use of her old nickname. "I've been, actually better than good. We're actually just returning from our second honeymoon. London is just breathtaking isn't it? All those shoes and clothes..." She trailed off, her eyes taking on a glassy look. "But as nice as it was, it'll be nice to get back to the states where they speak English instead of whatever they speak in London. At times I had no idea what they were saying." She giggled the giggle of a typical blonde. "Was this your first trip overseas?" She had noticed, when they boarded, that they didn't have any carry-ons.

"Oh...actually I don't live in the states and haven't for three years." Buffy really wanted the conversation over. "We're on vacation, actually." She reached over and patted the seemingly clueless Xander on the leg.

The pat didn't escape Amanda's ever watchful eyes. She was just itching for some juicy gossip to take home. "Your husband is quite the mondo hunk." She took a moment to undress Buffy's traveling companion with her eyes.

Buffy blinked. "What? Oh, no." She shook her head but before she could say anything else Xander chimed in.

"Don't be modest, honey." Xander told her, he had been listening to the conversation since the very beginning and knew it was now heading into gossip territory; he knew this from the year he dated Cordelia who happened to be the biggest gossip in Sunnydale or maybe even the entire state of California. "I'm her fiancé, Xander Harris." He took Buffy's hand and intertwined their fingers.

Amanda's gleeful look faded when the handsome young man spoke. She was surprised to head that he, too, was American. "Charmed." She said, dryly. "Amanda Renalds."

"Sorry, dear." Buffy didn't even hesitate to play along knowing her friend would explain later. "So what have you been doing since high school?"

Xander settled back to watch the movie now that the crisis had been diverted but kept a close eye on the conversation, just in case. A small smile tugged at his lips when Buffy settled their still joined hands on the arm rest between them.

"Well, um, I'm a Senior Vice President of Flowvex Communications, perhaps you've heard of it? That's actually where I met Bradly, _he's_ the Senior Vice President of Marketing." Amanda bragged. "And we have three wonderful children; Tiffany is nine, Victoria is four, and Thomas is two." She would have shown off the numerous pictures she had but she got the feeling that Buffy wouldn't have cared. "So what about you? Any kids?"

Buffy smiled the polite smile. "Nope, no kids. Works keeps both of us very busy. But you never know what the future may hold."It was a nice, safe, neutral, answer.

Amanda nodded in understanding. "What do you two do? I mean, the last time I saw you, you'd just burnt down the gym and was on your way to kiddie prison." This was the stuff juicy gossip was made of and she couldn't wait to get back home so that she could call all her Hemery friends and tell them what she had found out about crazy Buffy Summers; the girl that disappeared from Hemery after freshman year and was never seen again, until now.

Frowning, Buffy managed to keep her temper in check, a plane was not the place to commit murder; too many witnesses. "Sorry to disappoint you but I didn't go to _kiddie_ prison, not enough evidence. Actually my parents divorced and mom moved us to Sunnydale, which was about two hours from LA. And both Xander and I work at Summerlande Academy's main campus in London."

Bradly, growing bored of the movie, decided to join the ongoing conversation. "You work at Summerlande Academy? We actually toured the Cleveland campus a couple of months ago. We're currently working on getting Tiffany on the early acceptance list. Ms. Rosenberg seemed confidant that our daughter would be starting in the fall." His voice was full of pride.

"Confidant, maybe. But she did say that she had to review Tiffany's file with the Headmaster. Like she can't just make the decision herself? Do we really want our daughter attending that school? That Rosenberg lady was kinda weird, don't you think?" Amanda grumped, the conversation hadn't headed where she wanted it to. "What do you do at Summerlande? Cook or something?" Her mood was beginning to slip.

Buffy laughed. "Oh God no. Me, cook? I can make pancakes and that's about it. So I would have to say or something. Same with Xand, here. He can heat soup and that's about it. Lucky for us the school employs a full time food service staff. We'd starve otherwise."

"I like a woman who admits she can't cook." Bradly eyed his wife for a moment then looked back to Buffy. "You two know a lot about Summerlande, don't you? Maybe you could help us understand the admittance process a little better?" He motioned for Amanda to switch seats with him once again.

"Sure, whatcha wanna know?" Xander asked after sharing a look with his friend. "We're a fountain of information."

Amanda conceded the conversation to her husband and instead focused on the movie, complete with headphones.

Bradly rubbed his hands together. "What do you know about Ms. Rosenberg? I liked her just fine but my wife is another story."

"She's afraid of frogs and loves to teach." Buffy answered, automatically, with a smile. "I've known her and Xand since sophomore year of high school." She explained. "She might be kinda colorful but she's completely harmless."

"So she's the same age as you two?" Bradly asked. "She's rather young to be running a school, isn't she?"

Xander shrugged. "Twenty-six is a little young but we're not your normal run of the mill school, either. We created Summerlande Academy from scratch, Mister Renalds. It took a lot of time, money, and effort to make it a safe haven for girls who didn't quite fit in anywhere else. I can assure you that Willow is more than qualified for the job or isn't a degree from Oxford worth anything these days?"

Bradly could tell by Xander's speech that he truly loved his job, whatever it was. "So what is it that you two do at Summerlande? I get the feeling that you're more than just support staff."

Buffy shrugged and avoided the question. "If Willow is confidant your daughter will start in the fall then she'll start in the fall. Giles, eh, Headmaster Giles kinda takes our opinions seriously."

"Yeah, G-Man has been with us for our entire adult lives and most of our young adult lives too. He was the librarian at our High School." Xander explained. "He may not always like what we have to say but he listens, you know? Kinda like parents are suppose to." He paused as he fastened his seatbelt per instructions from the Captain, they were coming in for a landing. "You're not to tell him I said that, I'll never hear the end of it." He warned Buffy.

"Your secret is safe with me, Xand-man." Buffy patted his arm and pulled her blackberry out of her pocket. She focused entirely on it for several long minutes before looking up and smiling at Bradly. "Your daughter has been accepted for early admittance. You should be receiving your welcoming packet any day now." She informed him as the plane came to a stop and everybody stood getting ready to disembark.

"Really? Thank you, she'll be thrilled." Bradly said with a genuine smile. "But seriously, what do you do?"

Xander motioned towards the door with his head and left her alone with the Renalds. She'd be along shortly.

Buffy waited until the plane was almost empty. "Summerlande was named in memory of my mother, Joyce Summers, there's a dedication plaque inside each campus." She was silent for a moment. "I was a councilor at the new Sunnydale High School and I liked it. I liked being needed. While doing that I...opened...our home to displaced and wayward girls. Everybody helped out; Xander, Willow, Giles, and Dawn. So when Sunnydale was swallowed up by a sinkhole and we lost everything...I guess we all wanted to feel needed again. California settled with us, not that any amount of money was ever going to bring back the things we lost and the people we loved but...it enabled us to do something _good_. Summerlande Academy started out as a dream that we worked damned hard to make a reality. So what do we do, you ask? We do everything that needs to be done." She started to walk towards the exit. "Tell Tiffany that I think she'll fit in just fine." And with that she disappeared out the door and into the warm New York night.


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, this looks like the place." Xander said as he looked, from the piece of paper in his hand, up at the skyscraper looking in front of them. "Doesn't look very kid friendly does it?"

Buffy had to agree wit him. "Hey, watch it!" She narrowly missed being run over by a stampede of people moving to and fro on the sidewalk. "Did I ever tell you that I _hate_ New York?"

Xander pilled Buffy into the safety of the building. "Only one or two _hundred_ times." He lead the way to the reception desk."Willow called and made us an appointment right?"

"Yup, she, unlike us, can do more than one thing at once." Buffy declared proudly as she smiled at the bubble gum pink haired receptionist. "We have a three o'clock appoint with Mary Jentry."

"She's expecting you. Go on back." The young, pretty, receptionist motioned towards the long hallway off to the right side of her desk. "Last door on your right."

"Thank you." Xander started down the hall and stepped into the only open office. "Mary Jentry, I presume?" He held out his hand to the short, stout, middle-aged woman sitting behind the cluttered desk. "I'm Xander and this is my bestest friend in the whole wide world, Buffy Summers." He always introduced both Buffy and Willow as his bestest friends because they were so why lie about it?

Buffy was a little more cautious and took the time to survey the small, cramped, office for any signs of danger. After finding none, she shook the womans offered hand and sat down in one of the two chairs not piled high with boxes and folders.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Mary said with a genuine smile. "I was a little surprised when I received a call from your colleague requesting an appointment, not many people bother." She pulled a folder from the bottom of one the of the piles on her desk and opened it. "I just have a few questions I need answered before I can, legally, give you the file. You don't mind, do you?" At the shake of his head, she continued. "You live in England, is that correct?"

Xander nodded and settled into the chair beside Buffy. "Lived there for three years now."

Mary nodded not surprised since the young man had a bit of an accent, that was clearly not American, that she was sure he wasn't aware of. "I must say that you're my first international case." She jotted down the information and moved onto the next question. "Before that, where did you life?" She needed to know so she could update the file then close it for good, something that should have been done when the child in question turned eighteen.

"Right before that we lived in Cleveland for a year and before that was good ol' Sunnydale California. That's pre-sinkhole not after." Xander joked.

"I'm assuming that since his case file is here that he originated from New York?" Buffy asked still not completely convinced that this woman was harmless. "So how did he end up on the other side of the country?"

"That's correct." Mary answered. "The file states that the..." She paused to look up the name. "The Harris' were friends of the biological parents. It was requested that they take custody of the child." She turned her attention back to Xander. "I'm guessing my correspondence must have came as quite a shock? The Harris' haven't told you anything about the adoption?" This wasn't odd, what would be odd is if he was told anything.

Xander grimpsed at the mention of his _parents_. "Actually, they're dead but before that they didn't give any inkling that I wasn't theirs. I mean, Dad even tried to sell me once, when I was little so..." He trailed off having no idea where he was heading with that.

Mary gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry for your loss." She made another notation in the file. "You mind me asking how they died?"

Buffy sat up straighter in her chair, lying was something she had grown very good at over the years; especially lies about Sunnydale and anything relating to it. "Some people escaped Sunnydale and others didn't." It was a simple explanation. "The Harris' refused to evacuate and they paid for their stupidity." She was blunt if nothing else.

"That's horrible." Marry laid her pen down for the moment. "I remember reading about Sunnydale in the newspapers. Over two hundred dead and more than a hundred missing. It was said to be the tragedy of the year." Mary eyed the two young people as something occurred to her. "You two are survivors?"

"We were...lucky. We escaped with our lives but lost everything we had _except _each other. So don't feel sorry for me because I don't." Xander told her, honestly. "Don't get me wrong, I loved my parents regardless of their many _many_ faults and don't misunderstand my reasons for being here. I'm not here for a new family to replace the one I lost because I already have a family. I'm here for answers, nothing more, nothing less. So if you don't mind, _I_ have a few questions of my own."

A sense of pride overwhelmed Buffy and she reached over and laid her hand on his leg out of support.

Mary felt herself fluster but at the same time she found herself nodding. "Very well, what would you like to know, Mister Harris?"

Xander laid his hand over Buffy's and gave it a little squeeze, glad for the silent support she was offering. "Does your files say who my biological parents are and why...why they gave me up?"

Looking down, Mary scanned the file for the information he wanted. "Your original birth certificate has a Jacob Carter listed as your father and a Marie Erickson-Carter listed as your mother. It says here that Mrs. Carter was in a car accident which induced labor. Because of injuries sustained you were born via caesarian section at which time..." She trailed off and looked up. The poor, poor, boy.

"At which time what?" Xander was beginning to panic. "Did I have horns? Or a tail? I had a tail, didn't I?!" He babbled sounding very much like Willow.

Mary blinked and hurried to reassure him that he didn't have horns or a tail at birth. "You were born healthy, no deformities. But I'm afraid that Mrs. Carter, your mother, passed away just after you took your first breath." When she said just after, she meant just after. The record has only two seconds between his birth and his mothers death. "It was your father who requested, through us, that you be placed with the Harris'. I guess it was too much for him to handle." She told him, quietly, gently. "It does say here that he received yearly status reports regarding you but they stopped just after you turned five and he made no further requests regarding you."

Xander shook his head and clutched Buffy's hand. "Man, I must have been horrible in my previous life if _this _is suppose to be a step up." His eyes widened, comically. "I was a Spike in my previous life." He used humor to break the seriousness of the situation.

Buffy snorted and patted his leg after breaking his death grip he had on her hand. "I doubt that _you_ were anything like Spike in a previous life." She turned her attention to Mary just as Xander's cellphone began to ring and he excused himself to take the call in the hall. "Your files say anything else about the Carters?"

"I did a little research when I first found the file but before I contacted Alexander. Jacob and Marie had two children prior to young Alexander. Samantha, who was twelve when Marie died and Mark, who was fourteen. Jacob is currently listed as a retired Air Force General who is now an Ambassador to a foreign land. Samantha is an active Air Force Colonel currently assigned to NORAD. And Mark is a computer programmer for a small technology company." Mary told her.

"Sorry about that, one of my girls got into a fight." Xander said as he reentered the office. "We done here, Buff?"

"Ready when you are, Xand-man." Buffy said with a smile. "So, who got in a fight? Please tell me it wasn't Torrey again."

Mary looked from one to the other. "One of your girls?" She questioned, uncertain.

Xander shook his head. "It wasn't Torrey, at least not this time. This time it was Nikka." He looked at Mary. "It's not what your thinking. I'm not some pervert running a brothel out of my house. Tell her Buffy!" He demanded.

Buffy grinned. "Xander loves kids and not in the eww gross kinda way. Back in England we run a school for girls and it's a full time job, let me tell you. My sister and her boyfriend are filling in for us while we're here but they're young and our girls don't always listen. Sometimes calling us is the only option left besides homicide." She raised an eyebrow at Xander. "Do what did Dawn do?"

"Wasn't little sis dishing out the punishment. _Andrew_ was the big bad and took away her city privileges for a month. He was calling to tell me that she broke into his room and hid his entire comic book collection." Xander told her with a smirk. "I give her points for originality. To bad I'm gonna havta call her grandparents when we get back."

"One last thing before you go." Mary jotted something down on a post-it and handed it to him. "I was able to track down Samantha's address for you. I know you said that you weren't looking for a new family but you never know."

Standing, Buffy read what she had written down. "Colorado Springs, Colorado? That's a long ways from here." She pointed out.

Xander nodded and tucked the address away. "Thank you, Mrs. Jentry. Was there anything else you needed to know to close the file?"

Mary gave him a smile, such a polite young man. She was certain that whatever he decided to do about his biological family would be the right thing for him to do. "No, it was nice meeting you both and I hope you get things worked out with your girls."

Buffy stood and followed Xander to the door. "Good day, Mrs. Jentry." With that said she disappeared out the door. "Wait up, Xand!" She called to his retreating form. "When we get back to the hotel I want you to pack while I call Willow and have her book us a flight out of JFK tonight."

Once they were both gone, Mary put the finishing touches on the file and placed it in the closed section. In the back of her mind she realized that she still didn't know why the case hadn't been closed earlier but something else needed her attention and she pushed Alexander _Xander_ Harris out of her mind.

"We going somewhere?" Xander asked, amused. "We don't have to go back home just yet. Andrew is in no danger and I'm sure he'll find his comic books all intact."

"I hear Colorado is nice this time of year." Was all Buffy said as she lead him down the sidewalk and towards their hotel. Only nice thing about New York City was that everything was within walking distance.

Xander fell into step beside her. "I was serious when I told her that I already have a family, Buff."

Buffy shrugged. "I know. I just don't want you to have any regrets about this." She said then fell silent.

"Why would I have regrets about this?" Xander asked his, now, silent companion then added. "I have better things to have regrets about than meeting people that gave me up without a second thought twenty-seven years ago."

"Because." Buffy sighed and pulled him off to the side. "I have regrets about my father even though he isn't in my life." She paused then continued. "Dad remarried about four years ago. He called to invite Dawn and me to the wedding and we never called him back. Then he called a few months later to tell us that Shelia, his new wife, was pregnant. I didn't take the news very well and neither did Dawn. He sounded _so_ bloody happy on the phone that I wanted to cause him as much pain as I could. I told him to take his new family and go to tell. Then I preceded to tell him that if he ever tried to contact me again I'd do everything in my power to make his new, _perfect_, life a living hell. Dawn said he called her a few days later and she told him that we were doing fine without him and had been for a while. Then she told him in no uncertain terms that we were through being a family. He never tried to contact us again. I, um, had Willow look him up a couple of months ago. He's still living in LA with Shelia, his four year old son, Carson, and two year old daughter, Mia. I regret shutting him out of my life even though it was the right thing to do." She looked down at her shoes. "I don't want you to feel the way I feel, _nobody_ should feel like that. Ever."

Xander pulled her into a hug. "Does Dawn know?" He asked into her hair.

Buffy shook her head and stepped out of the hug. "She'll probably find out sooner or later but right now she doesn't need to know. Maybe once she finishes college and her and Andrew set a date, I'll tell her. By then she'll have a stable enough life to handle the news." She snorted. "I can't say I'm looking forward to telling her that her father is a son-of-a-bitch that cares for his new family more than the one he already had. I think I could have forgiven him for being absent if he'd been around when mom got sick Or even if he had showed up for the funeral but...what he did was unforgivable." She blinked her eyes to clear away the tears that had formed but hadn't fallen. "So we're going to Colorado and we're going to meet your sister." She left no room for argument.

"Ay, ay, ma'am!" Xander saluted her then draped one arm over her shoulders and started them walking again. "Isn't ironic that we literally run a school with branches scattered around the globe but we can't make simple travel arrangements?" He asked after they walked in silence for several minutes.

Tilting her head to the side, Buffy looked at him. "You want to make the arrangements when we get back to the hotel?" She asked, skeptically.

Xander shook his head. "No, not what I meant. I just wanted to point out that we can save the world many times over but neither of us know how to book a flight or even a hotel room for that matter. What would we do without Willow, huh?"

Buffy chuckled. "We'd we landlocked across the great pond, that's for sure." She snuggled into his side as they walked.

Neither of them knew what tomorrow would bring but they were both ready to face it.


	5. Chapter 5

"We're, literally, worth millions all together so tell me why we don't have our own private jet?" Xander grumped as he brushed peanuts and gummi-bears out of his hair that had been placed there by the small child from hell sitting behind them on the plane.

"Because it would be a waste of our money." Buffy quoted having asked Giles the same thing just last year after a disastrous flight to Mexico that had ended with her threatening bodily harm to the custom officials that had detained her and Maria, a new student, a young slayer of only eight, she had been sent to pick up from an orphanage and escort back to England, for more than seven hours. Buffy sighed and plucked a stray gummi-bear out of her own hair. "At least Wil sent the car." She motioned, with her head, towards the black BMW sedan in front of the airport they just emerged from. "Morris!" She enthusiastically greeted the gray haired, black man standing outside the car.

"Good to see you again, Mizz Summers." Morris said with a smile so wide it showed off a perfect set of white teeth that shone against his chocolate skin. "And you Mister Xander." He opened the car door for them. "Mizz Willow said you'd be needing a life so here I be." He slammed the door once both of them were in and moved around the car until he slid into the drivers seat.

Xander grinned as he got into the car after Buffy. "So how you been Morris, old buddy, old pal?" He asked once they were heading down the highway towards Colorado Springs. "Still chasing the woman or has Susan wised up and put you on a leash?" He was joking, of course.

Morris was happy to make small talk with two of his employers. "I've been good, thank you for ask." He was quiet for a minute. "I can't help it the ladies like a little chocolate Morris in the morning so what Susan don't know won't hurt her." He concluded.

Chuckling, Xander shook his head. "You old dog." He liked Morris and what wasn't there to like? He was a genuinely nice man. "I've been good. Busier than Weight Watchers after Thanksgiving though. How's the grandkids, they staying out of trouble?"

"Anthony's been clean for a year now and Fiona's been sober for three months, I pray every night that the Lord has lead them back to the path of salvation." Morris looked in the rearview mirror. "And what about yourself, Mizz Summers? Life been treating you and the little sprite alright?"

Buffy smiled. "Life's been treating us just fine. And Dawn isn't so little anymore. She's in her second year at Oxford. As for me, I'm just happy Summerlande is finally getting the recognition that it deserves."

Morris nodded. "I'm glad to hear things turned out for the littlest Summer. You know, I never did get to thank you for what you did for Keisha. My wife thanks the Lord every night for sending you into our babies life. Lord only knows if she would have followed in her brothers and sisters footsteps."

Xander eyed his friend, he knew she had a history with the driver but nothing more. "Have you been playing guardian Angel again, Buff?"

"It's nothing." Buffy liked to do things for other people as long as it remained just between her and the people she was helping. The more anonymous the better.

"She's just being modest." Morris said with a laugh. "She helped my granddaughter, Keisha, get into Summerlande Academy last year. The mizzes and I couldn't afford to send her to private school, you see? We wanted something better for her. Do right by her. Then one day, out of the blue, Mizz Summers showed up on our doorstep with Mizz Rosenberg, saying that our little spitfire had been invited to attend one of the most prestigious schools abroad, of course, we had never heard of Summerlande Academy before that point. We didn't find out until later that _she_ got Keisha a full scholarship."

"That's my Buffy, full of kindness." Xander said proudly. She never ceased to amaze him.

Buffy shook her head. "I did for Keisha what I do for all the girls that are...special. I just make sure some of the more deserving ones get a little more than the others." And Keisha sure was deserving. Both her parents had been killed, separately, by their respective drug dealers before she had turned two. Her grandparents had already lost two previous children to drugs and had already been taking care of their two eldest grandkids who were on their way to following in their parents footsteps. They had little money but wanted a better life for their youngest grandchild who also happened to be the brightest. "You have to understand that there is two different sides to Summerlande. One side is for girls like Keisha and the other side is for normal girls who's parents want them to have an above average education. It's those girls that pay tuition. And the only difference between the two sides is certain classes. So you see, I didn't really _do_ anything except see to it that she attended."

It was Morris' turn to shake his head. "Say what you like, Mizz Summers, but we are still grateful for _everything_ that you did."

The remainder of the car ride was silent or so it appeared to Morris. But the elderly driver didn't know that the three original Scoobies had the ability to communicate without the use of words. The whole time it was quiet, Buffy and Xander were involved in a conversation that only the two of them could hear.

Xander took a moment to assess downtown Colorado Springs. "It sure is different from New York, isn't it?"

"We'll be fine, Morris, I promise. We're adults and can find our way around a town on our very own." Buffy was trying to get the driver to just leave them and return to Cleveland but he wasn't budging. "Alright, I give up!" She threw her hands in the air, which drew the attention of a passing elderly couple. Leaning in the open passenger window, she lowered her voice. "Call Willow and tell her your sticking around _in case_ we need you. Get her to find you a place to stay and _we'll _see you later." She huffed at the satisfied smile that graced his wrinkled face as he pulled away from the curb and headed down the street. "Impossible, stubborn...man!" She sputtered then glared at Xander who was laughing. "What are you laughing at Long John Silver?"

"Nothing, I swear!" Xander held his hands up in surrender. "So...where should we start?" He deferred to her as leader of this little expedition.

Buffy sighed and took a moment to orient herself with her new surroundings. "Well, we have her address but I don't think we should just show up on an Air Force Colonel's doorstep spouting claims of kinship, it might not go over very well. And Giles would kill us if we started something with the Air Force, _again_.

Xander started walking down the sidewalk towards a café. "Hey, that Major started it. He said we couldn't have Airman Daniels because she was facing charges for fighting _after_ we flew all the way here to get her. Like he couldn't have told us that over the damn phone? He did look funny explaining how a girl and a guy wearing an eyepatch managed to steal a fully grown Airman without anybody seeing it happen."

"You stayed and listened after I told you not to?" Buffy frowned then smirked. "How'd he explain the black eye?"

"Said he walked into a door, really, really, hard." Xander bumped into her. "I never did thank you for defending my honor."

Buffy bumped him back. "I thought it was a nice change. It's always you defending my honor from some overgrown ape. It was nice to return the favor for once. Besides, nobody insults my Xander shaped friend and gets away with it. Nobody! Not even some ignorant jarhead!"

Xander smiled once again thanking the gods that he had her for a friend. "Jarheads are Marines, not Air Force." He pointed out as he held the door to the café open then followed her inside and to a booth.

"What can I get for ya?" A red haired waitress asked as soon as the two Scoobies were seated. She cracked her gum waiting for them to order.

"Two cups of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows, please." Buffy ordered for both of them. They both avoided coffee when they traveled preferring something mellow instead. Coffee was reserved for all night research sessions and apocalypse averting.

Roxie, or so her name tag said, looked up from her order pad. "Hot chocolate with extra marshmallows?" She wanted clarification that she had heard the order, correctly. "You two new in town?" She was used to waiting on soldiers stationed out of Cheyenne Mountain.

"And a piece of blueberry pie with two forks, if you have it." Xander added as he held up two fingers to indicate the number of forks he wanted, not that they couldn't share one.

Buffy felt herself go on alert, people asking questions never meant good tidings. "We're just visiting, newlyweds and all. Just two newlyweds doing the honeymoon...thing." She babbled, deciding to use Xanders pervious lie and elaborate a little.

"Newlyweds, huh?" Roxie smiled. "Too cheap to spring for an island?" She guessed with a wink directed towards Buffy. "My husband was the same way when we got married. Our honeymoon was to the Grand Canyon. Who wants to look at a giant hole in the ground when there are white sandy beaches out there?"

Xander gave Buffy a warning look using his one good eye. He knew how much she liked to play the locals. "I am _not _cheap! I just thought our money would be better spent on a down payment on a house." He defended his imaginary life choices.

"That's my Xander, ever the responsible adult." Buffy leaned towards the waitress and lowered her voice. "Considering in high school, he wanted to be a Toys-r-Us kid forever."

Roxie nodded, understandingly. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your order." She moved away from the booth and headed behind the counter where she disappeared into the kitchen.

"Married, huh?" Xander asked with a smirk. "You must be one lucky lady, Mrs. Harris." He couldn't help but tease her.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Deflate that head of yours. She was starting to ask questions and I wanted her to stop. Besides, maybe _I'm _the great catch, whatcha think about that, hmm?"

Xander's smirk softened into a smile. "I'd say _I'm_ the lucky one, no matter what."

"Charmer." Buffy teased as they order arrived and they began to demolish the piece of pie and hot chocolate. "Tell me why would haven't found some nice woman and settled down? Anybody would be lucky to have you." She gave him a soft smile. "I know I'm lucky just having you as a friend. What would I ever do without you?"

"You've scared away my last two dates by threatening to skin them alive if they did anything to hurt me." Xander reminded her not sounding upset at all that she ran off two of his dates. "I'm certain I'm more lucky to have you as a friend than the other way around. But let's say I'm not going anywhere for a very long time so you'll never have to find out what a Xander-free world would be like." He said between mouthfuls of pie and chocolatey goodness.

Just as they were finishing up and getting ready to pay the bill, the quietness of the café was shattered when a group of four guys, all built like tanks, strolled in like they owned the place. They strolled in and right up to the booth the two friends were sharing.

"You're in our seat." The tallest one, obviously the leader, grunted out to Xander. He ignored Buffy like talking to a woman was beneath him.

Buffy felt the slayer go on guard. These men posed a threat and the slayer did _not_ like to feel threatened. "Your seat?" She looked from left to right then under the table before facing them fully. "I don't see your name anywhere, do you Xander?" She knew her friend liked to be included in what they referred to as bully busting.

Xander shook his head and moved into bully taunting mode without so much as blinking his eye. "Nope, unless their names are Tommy and Maggie." He pointed to a heart that had been carved into the table top on his side. "But then I'd have to wonder why strapping fellows like them are carving declarations of love, for each other, in table tops. Is there something you gentlemen want to tell us? I've helped people come out before and I hear it's a very...life changing experience."

"Oh, think you're cute, you one eyed freak?" One of the other muscle men asked. "What's with the eye patch, looking to get hired at Long John Silvers?" This caused all four of the men to laugh and slap each other on the backs.

"What's with the dumb, jock, look, looking to get hired at Stupid-r-Us?" Buffy asked as she slid out of the booth and crossed her arms over her chest. She was trying to rein in the slayer. "Well, I hate to be the one to tell you guys but they ain't hiring anymore so I'd ask for my money..." She trailed off and looked them up and down. "And brains back from whatever store told you that, that look was in. It's so nineteen-eighties."

The leader growled and took a threatening step towards the cute little blonde running off her mouth. "You got quite a mouth on you, darlin. But a pretty little thing like you shouldn't use it for making words, I think you could be doing something more than talking." He leered. "She good with her mouth, pirate boy?" He asked Xander, gaining confidence when the young man didn't move to the girls aid. He was under the _mistaken_ impression that the younger man was afraid of him and his buddies. "Why don't we go back to my place and I show you a better use for that pretty little mouth of yours."

"Why don't you leave before you and your _boys_ get hurt." Xander asked never raising his voice or moving from the voice. He knew by the looks he was getting that they thought he was being funny. Well, he did warn them.

Another of the men stepped forward. "Are _you _threatening us, loser?" He demanded to know as he cracked his knuckles. "Why don't you run home to mommy and let the big boys have a little fun?" He suggested, cruelly. "We won't hurt her...much." This earned around round of laughter and back slaps.

Buffy eyed the four brutes. She could take them, hell, she was sure Xander could take them. They had fought against much bigger, meaner, foes and won so this was a cake walk. "Urg, what is this, high school? Because I _so_ don't want to relive those years. We blew the school up for a reason." She pointed out to the clueless foursome.

Xander finally slid out of the booth to take up position beside Buffy. "We blew the school up because of Mayor Snake." He pointed out.

"True." Buffy tilted her head to the side. "So you see boys, he isn't threatening you, I am and you _so_ don't want to mess with me. But if you insist." Within a blink of an eye she incapacitated three of them, careful not to hurt them too badly. "See, should have listened to my friend." She grunted as she dropped the third one to the floor.

Seeing his chance, Xander took out the fourth guy with a series of well placed punches. "Can I get some ice?" He asked as he finally noticed that the café was empty except for Roxie the waitress. "Whoa, we haven't cleared a place this fast since..." He paused to think. "Since that little corner bistro in Florence."

Buffy nodded in agreement as she stepped over the four unconscious men and headed for the counter with bill in hand like nothing had even happened. "Sorry about the mess." She apologized to Roxie, sheepishly. "If you'll give the owner our card and tell him to send us a bill, we'll gladly pay for any damages." Searching through her pockets, she finally produced a business card, the ones that Willow had made the first week they started recruiting for Summerlande and started running into trouble. "You might want to contact their base and tell them that some of their men are here and acted like nothing more than overgrown goons."

"How'd you know they're military?" Roxie asked after she took the card and tucked it away. "They're not in uniform and you're not from around here." She pointed out as she handed a baggie full of ice to Xander.

Xander eyed the men and gratefully took the offered bag of ice and held it on his bleeding and bruised knuckles. "Sadly, we've dealt with military types before. These Marines? Didn't know there was a base this far from the water." He explained.

Roxie nodded. "They're Marines, alright. Your typical jarheads, at that. They're stationed out of Cheyenne Mountain under NORAD. It used to be a missile silo back in the day before it was converted into a military base. Lotsa weird things go on there." She said as she rang up the check and took the offered money then handed back the change. "I have Cheyenne Mountain on speed dial, sadly. Those four aren't new here, they stop by ever couple weeks and cause trouble then leave. I gotta say this is the first time they got trouble handed right back to them." She grinned. "I'll enjoy telling the Airmen sent to retrieve them about their disrespectful attitude towards woman."

"I hope they get in a lot of trouble." Buffy declared then motioned for Xander to follow her from the café. "I must go take a long, hot, bath...in Listerine now. I feel like I got slime dripping off me. Last time I felt this way was when Spike..." She trailed off knowing that Xander did want to hear about her former sex life with Spike. "Anyways, thanks for lunch." She stepped through the door and out onto the sidewalk.

"The pie was good. Best pie I had since...forever." Xander smiled and followed his friend out of the empty café. "Hotel, ho!" He grabbed Buffy's arm and began leading her towards the hotel that Willow had picked.

Once the two were gone, Roxie took out the business card and turned it over. "Summerlande Academy." She let out a long, low, whistle. "Money and love, those two really hit the jackpot." She chuckled and ripped the card in half, throwing it away. What she didn't tell them was that her and her husband owned the café and after seeing the young woman stand up to those goons, she wasn't going to press them for any money. Besides that, they didn't really break anything except a chair which could easily be replaced. She tapped her fingers on the counter top before picking up the phone and hitting the number two. "Yes, this is Roxie from Roxie's café, I'd like to speak to General Landry please. Yes, it's regarding four of his...men. They caused an incident today and I need them retrieved. Yes, no they can't walk. Why? Because they're unconscious. Messed with the wrong people, they did. Yes, I'll hold." She snapped her gum as she waited to be connected to the General. Boy did she have a story to tell him.


	6. Chapter 6

Buffy stared out the window at the setting sun, her mind elsewhere. She had decided, and Xander had agreed, that they should lay low for awhile after the incident at the café yesterday. So they spent the entire following day inside, lazing about.

"Earth to Buff, you with us? Whatcha thinking about that got you all spacey and blank looking?"

Xander asked as he stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. He began to rummage through his duffle bag, which Morris had dropped off earlier, looking for something to wear.

"Hm?" Buffy blinked and looked away from the window when she realized Xander had finished his shower. "Oh, um, just something the waitress said." Buffy answered him never batting an eye at his state of undress.

Xander pulled a t-shirt out of his bag and slid it over his head. "Eyes forward, Ms. Summers." He told her then after making sure she wasn't peaking, he dropped the towel and pulled on a pair of Scooby-Doo boxers that had been given to him by Willow last Christmas. "About there being a military base under Cheyenne Mountain? Under NORAD? You smell a great big government secret?"

Buffy shrugged and looked at him once again. "It fits the MO of most government secrets we've run into over the years. They probably use NORAD as a cover or whatever the bloody hell NORAD does. This complicates things especially if those four oversized goons are apart of it. We should expect a visit from the _Men-in-Black_ anytime now."

"We should have Willow poke around and she what she can find." Xander suggested as he sat down beside her on her bed; the room had two queen sized beds thanks to Willow and her ability to get exactly what she wanted. It was a skill that came in quite handy.

"Way ahead of you." Buffy motioned with her head towards the fax machine sitting on the dresser. "She's gonna send us anything she finds."

Xander nodded his understanding. "You do anything else while I was showering? Maybe save the world again?" He joked.

Buffy snorted and smacked his on the arm. "I can't help it your showers are longer than any girls you know, including Dawn. And I didn't save the world but I did manage to order us room service. It should be here soon."

"Ah, my hero!" Xander said. "What did ya get me, huh? Huh?" He prodded.

"Tofu burger with a side of Okra. Willow's been on me to get you to eat better so I thought no time like the present." Buffy told him, seriously.

Xander looked aghast. "You wouldn't punish me like that. What did you _really_ get me?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Cheeseburger with everything and an extra side of seasoned steak fries. Good enough for you, Mister Piggy?"

Nodding, Xander leaned back on the bed. "I think this was the first day in...forever...that I just stayed in and relaxed." An content sigh escaped from his lips as he put his hands under his head. "It felt nice."

"It did, didn't it?" Buffy agreed then stood to answer the door upon hearing a knock. Instead of asking who it was, she just pulled it open. "I was hoping for food but...what can I do for ya?" She asked the tall, brown haired, man standing in the hall.

The man blinked as a small blonde answered the door. "Um, yeah." He was at a loss for a moment, thrown by her less than threatening appearance. "I'm here regarding an incident that occurred at Roxie's café yesterday afternoon. I was hoping that you could clear up somethings for me." He kept his voice inviting and his posture as non-threatening as he could.

Xander, who had sat up upon hearing a voice talking to Buffy, shared a meaningful look with her. This guy was obviously, in his less than obvious appearance, one of the _Men-in-Black_ she had been expecting. "Come on in!" He invited with flourish. It was good to always keep your enemy guessing your intentions. "You with the CSPD?" His question was meant to sound flitty, like he was just a clueless out of town visitor.

Buffy took a step back so that the man could enter then quietly shut and locked the door once he was in. She tilted her head towards the man indicating, to Xander, what needed to be done. She didn't want to make any trouble but they needed to know what the little scene at the café had cost them.

"Thanks. And you could say that." The words had barely left his mouth when he suddenly found himself retrained and being zip tied to one of the rooms chairs. "_Not _on your honeymoon, then?" He didn't sound angry just annoyed.

"It's nothing personal." Xander reassured him as he tightened the last zip tie then began to search the pockets of his jean jacket. "Ah-ha!" He exclaimed as he pulled an ID card, which was basically a credit card with a picture and a bar code printed on it, out of an inside pocket. "Nice picture." He commented then tossed the card to Buffy so she could do her thing.

"Good work!" Buffy praised as she caught the card and turned it over in her hands. "This is a little fancier than the last one, good thing Willow updated our equipment the last time she visited." She picked up her blackberry from the dresser top and shoved the card into a slot on the bottom of the phone. "Can't be too careful these days." She told their captive with a cheerful smile._ Always _keep them guessing.

The man eyed the phone, impressed. "I don't remember a card reader being a standard feature on one of those." He wasn't really worried that they'd find anything out. A beeping sound caught his attention and he focused on what looked to be a fax machine. Maybe he was a _little_ worried.

Xander's eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas as he hurried over to the fax machine. "It's not included in the standard package. You have to upgrade to the super duper deluxe package to receive the card reader and lovely espresso maker." He watched as the machine began to print out a series of papers. "You have perfect timing, Willow." He whispered and gave the machine an affectionate pat. "Get anything yet?" He called over his shoulder.

Buffy shook her head. "It's taking a little longer than expected since it's a new design." She explained then leaned back against the dresser humming to herself. "Ah, that's better." She glanced over the information being displayed on her blackberries screen. "We have here a Doctor Daniel Jackson. The card has him listened as a civilian consultant with the Air Force." This confirmed her earlier thoughts. "The only other thing I got is that he's a much younger, much handsomer, Giles." With that one phrase she dismissed the rest of his information. "What did Wil find? She send us anything on our new friend here?"

"Give me a sec." Xander skimmed over the pages that had printed. "Yeah, Daniel here has quite a few commendations from the President. It says here that they are the highest a civilian can receive in service of his or her country." He eyed the retrained man. "Consulting must be mighty dangerous considering all the President approved commendations listed here." He was being patronizing since he already knew that the other man was involved with something the government didn't want the masses to know about. "It says here that he spent several years working at a museum in England, maybe Giles knows him?"

"Doubt it, Giles doesn't strike me as the type that socialized much outside his little circle before coming to America." Buffy told him then focused on Daniel. "So...Doctor Daniel Jackson, huh?"

"Wow, impressive." Daniel said, dryly. General Landry was so going to kill him. And he was sure Jack would fly in from D.C. just to see it. "You already know me so how about you tell me your names?" This wasn't his first time as a captive and he knew how it worked.

Xander again shared a look with Buffy before shrugging. "Alright, no harm I suppose. I'm Xander Harris and this beautiful lady is Buffy Summers. And we may not be here on our honeymoon but we are here for a vacation of sorts, right Buff?"

Buffy tilted her head to the side. "Right. Of sorts." She nodded once, firmly. "So, what's your story, Daniel? May I call you Daniel or do you prefer Doctor Jackson? Or maybe Danny?" She was babbling again.

Daniel blinked and not for the first time thought that maybe, just maybe, he had somehow fallen into the twilight zone. These two didn't give off any evil vibes nor did they seem to want to cause him any harm. All they appeared to want was answers. "Daniel is fine." He paused. "My story? You know my story." He motioned towards her phone with his chin. "I'm a civilian consultant with the Air Force and have been for a number of years. I'm an archeologist, actually, but the Air Force employs my linguist skills. How about you? What does Buffy Summers do when she isn't tying people up? Or do you do this for a living?"

"Me and my friend here runs a school for girls in London but I'm guessing you probably already know that. The whole tying people up thing is just a hobby. I've never made money from it." Buffy assured him, seriously.

"We ran your finger prints from the café." Daniel told her. "You two are founding members of Summerlande Academy, right? That's an impressive feat considering your ages."

"What can I say, we're very motivated for our ages." Xander said as he kneeled down and began to cut the zip ties with a pocket knife he retrieve from the top dresser drawer. "Your free to go. Sorry about the whole bondage thing. So not usually our style."

Buffy pulled the card out of the slot. "You're lucky that it didn't spit out that you're apart of something called the NID. I would have killed you and they _wouldn't_ have found your body...ever."

Daniel paused from rubbing his wrists and looked up. "NID? You've had a run in with them?"

Xander stood up and placed the knife back in the drawer. "Not us, personally. Two of our friends did."

"Yeah, two of our friends, Faith and Robin, did and only one made it out of the confrontation alive. Her partner was killed before she could take them out." Buffy frowned. "Robin was a good man, he liked to help kids. I guess that's why he became a school principle. They didn't have to kill him. We don't condone violence against man but...by killing one of our own they forfeited their lives so declared the Powers that Be." She finished in a low, dangerous, voice.

Swallowing, Daniel had no doubt that the previous threat of killing him and nobody ever finding his body was true and could be carried out without so much as breaking a sweat. "So why tell me, a perfect stranger, all of this? I know it's not because it trust me."

"Because as I took off the zip ties I injected you with a little something to help you to forget our little conversation. It's our own mix." Xander said with a smile as Daniel began to sway.

Buffy stepped forward and tucked the card back into his jacket pocket and caught him as he slumped forward. "Hey, you okay?" She asked when dazed blue eyes focused on her.

Daniel blinked and pushed himself upward. "I'm sorry about that, I've been working long hours and I guess I forgot to eat today." He shook his head trying to clear the fog. "Anyways, like I was saying, I'd appreciate it if you could give me your verison of the events that transpired in the café."

Xander nodded. "Sure thing, have a seat." He motioned to the chair that Daniel had previous occupied. "Where do you want us to start?"

As Xander told Daniel about what had happened, Buffy left her mind wonder to the information they had discovered. It wasn't any concrete but it was enough to cause her pause. They'd have to be careful when it came to meeting Xander's newly discovered family because in all likelihood Jacob and Samantha Carter were involved in whatever was going on deep within Cheyenne Mountain. And for the first time in her life, she _didn't _want to know what it was.


	7. Chapter 7

"This is it." Xander shoved his hands into his pockets as he stared, ominously, at the quaint little house in front of him. "No regrets, right? That's the whole point of this little meeting, right? No regrets, no matter what?" He questioned the blonde leaning against the car beside him. Once this was over and done with he made a mental note to ask her how she got Morris to hand over the keys to the BMW; usually the car came with Morris attached.

"No regrets." Buffy reassured him. "No matter what you're apart of a family that loved you. Who needs blood, huh? Blood is _so _overrated unless you're a vampire then it's _so_...rated." She babbled feeling as nervous as her friend about this meeting. Anything could happen and she had no doubt in her mind that _anything_ would happen. Nothing was ever simple when it came to the two friends, _nothing_.

Xander pulled his hands out of his pockets and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. Her little babble fit gave him a bit more courage. "Alright, wish me luck." He started up the walkway pulling Buffy along with him; this was _her_ idea after all. Why should she miss all the awkwardness that was sure to come?

Buffy grunted as she was pulled along. "You thought about what your going to say to her?"

"Nope." Xander stopped once they reached the front door then released her hand so he could knock. "I'm not good with the whole speaking thing, you know that. So I decided to try the wing it approach instead. Worse she can do is slam the sodding door in my face, right?"

Nodding, Buffy wasn't surprised that her friend hadn't prepared. Xander rarely prepared but always managed to make his way though a situation with only a few minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises. "She's an idiot if she passes on the opportunity to have _you _for a brother. Wil will back me up on that." She added for good measure.

Xander smiled at her words of comfort, he felt a little better. "Thanks." He mouthed as the door opened to reveal a young lady, no older than Dawn.

"Can I help you?" The curly haired young woman asked as she eyed the two people on the doorstep. Her eyes lingered on the man and his eye patch a little longer than was polite but she finally managed to look away before she could be confronted on impolite staring.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Samantha Carter, does she live here?" Xander asked after Buffy elbowed him, in the ribs, to speak instead of shifting, uncomfortably, on the doorstep because of the stare he was receiving.

The younger woman nodded. "Yeah, she lives here. You from the base? I haven't seen you before." She ducked her head back inside. "Sam, company!" She bellowed before returning her attention to the two unsuspecting newcomers. Having been stuck with Sam for most of the week, she was beginning to go stir crazy so she viewed the two on the doorstep as an answer to her prayers of reprieve.

Buffy winced at the shrillness of the yell suddenly reminded of Dawn. "She in the next city or something?" She asked under her breath then added. "We're not from the base, we're actually not even from the states." She tucked away the fact that the girl said base and not NORAD so her previous assessment had been correct. At least one of the Carters was involved with whatever went on under Cheyenne Mountain.

"I'm Cassie." She introduced not completely forgetting the manners her adopted mother had tried to teach her; some Earth customs were still strange to her. "Really? Not from America? I'm not either, I'm from Canada." She elaborated then eagerly asked. "You ever been there?"

Xander had to smile, he too reminded of Dawnie. Girls would be girls. "We both have, actually. Many times, many, many, times."

Cassie grinned feeling comfortable around these two complete strangers. "That's so cool!" She may have not known them but she had to admit that she liked them. Then again she also liked the nice young man with the bible that had stopped by three days ago. "You been anywhere else? What country do you come from because you _so_ sound American?" Folding her arms, she leaned against the door frame while she waited on Sam to appear and put a stop her _very_ interesting conversation.

"We've been all over the globe." Buffy didn't want to sound like she was bragging so she just pretended she was talking to one of her girls. "I actually lived in Rome for a while and Xander here put down roots in Sydney. But in the end we both ended up in London."

"You came _all_ the way from Great Britain to see Sam? You sure you don't want to see Daniel instead?" Cassie asked as she tilted her head to the side at the sound of approaching footsteps behind her.

"Daniel? Brown hair, military cut?" Xander inquired. "Why would we want to see him instead of Samantha?" He was sure that he was missing something and hoped the girl would elaborate further.

Cassie didn't even blink when Sam stepped up behind her to observe who was at the door. "Because he _always_ has foreign visitors, Sam not so much, right? Uncle Daniel's the one with the stuffy friends from unpronounceable countries."

"I'm sure you've talked their ears off enough, Cass. Why don't you go watch the chicken so it doesn't burn?" Sam was subtlety asking the girl to concede the conversation to her.

"Fine!" Cassie huffed, pushed around Sam, and disappeared into the house. "I'm not a kid anymore!" Came the muffled yelled followed by the slamming of a door.'

Sam winced but smiled none the less at her two visitors. "I'm Samantha Carter, how can I help you?" She ran a hand through her newly cropped hair, trying to make herself look a little less frazzled.

Buffy gave the other blonde woman a sympathetic look. "Kids, aye? Teenagers especially. Could _so_ live without them but don't have any choice in the matter." She told her, knowingly.

Looking startled, Sam took a moment to observe her two visitors. "You have a teenager?" Neither one of them looked old enough to have a kid Cassie's age. "Cassie isn't mine, her adopted mother died a few years back and I've kinda been trying to keep an eye on her." She found herself explaining.

Xander chuckled at the horrified look on Buffy's face. "Buff's referring to her sister. She became her legal guardian back when Mrs. Summers died. Dawn was only fourteen at the time." He paused then shook his head to clear away the painful memories. "I'm Xander Harris and this is my friend, Buffy Summers." He motioned towards his companion with a jerk of his chin. "May we come in?" He asked, hesitantly.

Sam blinked and felt herself prickle just a bit. They looked harmless enough but she had learned long ago that looks could be deceiving, very deceiving. "Is something wrong?" She asked, not granting them access to her house.

"No, nothings wrong but what we have to tell you might be better received if you were sitting down." Buffy switched to her voice that she used when speaking with baby Slayers families. "It's nothing bad, I swear." She shared a look with her friend before returning to gaze to the other woman.

"Alright." Sam, reluctantly, stepped aside to let them enter. Once they were inside, she shut the door and lead them into the small living room. The whole time she was fighting the urge to call her teammates for back up. "So, what is it that you got to tell me?" She asked as she sunk down into the recliner positioned across from the couch.

"Um." Xander chuckled nervously and blew out a breath. "Last week I received a package of sorts from New York Anyways, it was from Child Protective Services based out of New York City. A lady there, a case worker, stumbled upon some old case files her predecessor left behind; one of the files was mine. Imagine my shock since I had _no _idea that I was even adopted."

Sam listened, growing more confused with each word. "What does your getting a package from Child Protective Services have to do with me?"

Buffy could tell her friend was floundering so she stepped in. "Your mother was killed in an auto accident twenty seven years ago, correct?" She asked, gently, knowing how hard it was to talk about a lost parent.

"How did you...?" Sam trailed off, rethinking about calling her friends. Something felt off. For now she'd go along with it. Clearing her throat, she answered. "Yes, my mother was killed when a drunk driver smashed into the cab she was riding in. What does her death have to do with anything? Why are you here?"

Xander sighed. "Were you aware that your mother was pregnant at the time of the accident?"

Sam snapped her gaze away from the girl, Buffy, and onto the boy, Xander. "Yes, she was eight months along. She _and _the baby died on that day." An uneasy feeling was starting to creep up her spine.

"December ninth, nineteen-eighty, right?" Buffy questioned. The sooner they got to the reason for them being there, the better.

"Who are you?" Sam demanded to know as she jumped to her feet and headed for the phone only to be headed off by a very fast moving Buffy. "How did you know that?"

"Because it's my birthday." Xander answered, quietly, from the couch; he had never moved. "The lady said the file listed a Jacob and Marie Carter as my biological parents. I'm your brother."

Sam felt the air rush from her lungs then felt a pair of strong arms steer her back to the chair she had previously abandoned. "Impossible." She whispered. "Dad told us the baby died. He wouldn't lie. Not about something like that." She slumped down into the chair.

Buffy knelt down at her side. "Losing someone is tough maybe your father just couldn't handle it? Maybe the child reminded him of what he lost?" She was throwing out suggestions. "I really don't know why he would have lied, I guess you'll have to ask him. What I do know is that my friend is a good man so just think about it? We're staying at the Radisson downtown, for another two days, if you decide that you want to get to know him; get to know your little brother." She motioned towards the door with her head. "We'll see ourselves out." And with that her and Xander left to return to the hotel room for the night.

"I need to talk to dad." Sam whispered to the dark living room, finally having snapped out dazed state. "Cassie?" She called out and searched the house for her _niece_. "Cass?" She stepped into the kitchen and picked up a note that had been left on the counter saying that Cassie had went out, with friends. Sighing, she gathered up her keys and left the house. The guardsman on duty at the base didn't even bother checking her ID as she drove through the checkpoint. After that, everything was a blur as she woke General Landry with a frantic plea to contact her father via the Stargate. He had some explaining to do. Because if their story checked out, the Carter family just added a, previously forgotten, member to its ranks.

* * *

Authors Note

I know Jacob died but for the purposes of my story I need him alive to provide back story so please don't hate me.

This was actually the hardest chapter to write, thus far. This is the second draft and I'm still not happy with it but it's the best my muse can come up with so here it is.

Reviews make me happy and a happy writer writes more!


	8. Chapter 8

Xander watched ,with hooded eyes, as Buffy bumped and ground her way across the dance floor. Her latest partner was a girl who looked to be twenty with blonde hair tipped with blue. Her movements were hypnotic and soon she had the younger girl eating out of her palm. With a sigh, he looked away and took a sip of her German import beer that he had been nursing since they arrived.

Buffy having been aware of Xander's eyes on her all evening frowned when he looked away. This outing was suppose to take his mind off the days previous events; namely the meeting with his sister that didn't go so well. Without saying a word to her nameless dance partner she left the floor and headed to their table. "You wanna go?" She asked over the music as she slid into her seat.

Blinking at her sudden appearance, Xander shrugged. "Maybe." He paused to another sip of his drink. "I just don't feel like being the life of the party right now. Maybe the death but definitely not the life."

Taking a sip of her own, colorful, fruity, drink, Buffy eyed her friend. "What's wrong?" It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that he was in a foul mood. "I thought you said a night out was exactly what the Watcher ordered?" She threw out his previous words.

Xander finished off his beer and declined a refill. "I did but now..."He trailed off. "I just don't feel like partying, Buff." He sounded frustrated and maybe a little angry.

Buffy stood up, suddenly, pulling him up with her. Taking his hand, she leaded him out onto the dance floor, not giving him a choice. "Just relax." She whispered into his ear as she pressed into him, now on a mission to cheer him up.

All his thoughts came to a screeching halt when he felt Buffy's warm body press into his, it was like a dream come true for him. "What are you doing?" Xander leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"Trying to help my Xander shaped friend relax." Buffy told him as she started to sway to the erratic beat of the music. Caught up in the moment, she leaned up and placed a feather light kiss on his chin.

Xander tensed and pushed her back. "Buff, stop." He warned. "I don't want to play."

Buffy froze. "Play? What? I thought..." She trailed off and stared at him, confusion shining in her eyes.

"You thought wrong. I can't be causal about this, not with you." Xander begged, with his eyes, for her to understand. "You'll regret it in the morning." He added for good measure.

"I'll regret it in the morning? Casual?" Buffy repeated under her breath. "Screw you, Xander Harris!" She shoved him out of the way and stalked off the dance floor.

Xander, too shocked to move, just watched her go. "Buffy, wait!" He called out after a minute and followed after her. By the time he reached their table, she was already gone. "Dammit!" He threw down a wad of bills to pay for the drinks then exited club Omni, to try and catch up with her before she did something stupid.

Buffy took a deep breath once she was outside and wiped, angerly, at the tears that had welled up in her eyes at Xander's blatant reject. "Stupid!" She spat under her breath. "How would I have been so wrong?" She asked herself, bitterly. Leaning against the outside of the club, she thought back to the days events. After leaving the Carter residence they returned to the hotel where they changed and headed to the dining room for an early dinner. After a delicious meal and great conversation, she had suggested a night out to help him relax; an idea he readily agreed to. A sigh escaped from her painted lips. "Why would a decent guy like Xander want to be with you? Especially when he knows your deepest darkest secrets? Just because he hasn't run for the damn hills screaming doesn't mean he loves you as anything other than a friend."

Rushing out of the club, Xander looked up and down the street for any sign of his friend. "Smooth, Xander, real smooth." He wanted to kick himself for misunderstanding her intentions.

"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." Buffy spoke out of her dark hiding place when she caught sight of him. She may have been hurt by what he said but he'd _always_ be her friend.

Xander spun around. Squinting into the shadows, he could just barely make out a head of blonde hair. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "Sanity is overrated. Gods, I'm sorry Buff." He quickly apologized.

Buffy waved off the apology. "It's alright, no need to apologize for being honest. It's one thing I love about you." She looked up to the sky trying to spot a star or two not dimmed by light pollution.

"You're my best friend, I don't want to screw that up." Xander wanted, desperately, for her to understand. "I love you." He whispered, hoping he was doing the right thing by telling her.

"I love you too, I'm just sorry it took so long for me to realize it." Buffy stepped forward. "I don't want something causal, not with you, never with you. I respect you too much to pull a Faith's get it, get gone. And I'm _not_ drunk, so don't even suggest it. You, of all people, should know I only drink on holidays and special occasions. I don't do that casually either." She said with a small smile.

Xander smiled. "You sure your not just saying that to get me to forget about my disastrous first contact with unknown sis?" He joked, which earned him a jab in the ribs. "So..."

Buffy's smile grew. "So..." She parroted then looked to her left as a noise caught her attention. "You hear that?" Her smile faded and she slipped into Slayer mode without so much as a second thought.

Titling his head to the side, Xander called upon his Watcher skills. "Sounds like whimpering." He finally acknowledged. "And not the good kind either."

"I'm not even going to ask." Buffy said as she started down the alley and towards the noise. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?" She asked coming to a halt in front of two people, who at first glance appeared to be making out.

Xander stopped beside his friend already removing a stake from an inside jacket pocket. "I don't remember seeing an all you can eat buffet sign anywhere, do you?"

Buffy shook her head and took her own stake, Mr. Pointy, out of it's hiding place. "We can do this the hard way or...well, theres just the hard way." She jerked forward and pulled the young _man_ away from his meal. "So do all vampires shop at the same store?" She asked in reference to his out of date outfit; something most vamps had in common. "I _so_ don't want to be doing this right now." She grunted out as he knocked her into the side of a nearby dumpster.

While Buffy maneuvered the vampire away from his prey, Xander moved in to survey the damage. "Can you hear me?" He questioned the girl as he knelt down and pulled her upright. "Can you tell me where you are?" He tried again and frowned at her dazed, blank, look. "She's going into shock!" He yelled to the Slayer.

"Okay, now I'm mad! I'm suppose to be on vacation!" Buffy pushed away from the dumpster and easily dodged the vampires punches. Dropping to the ground, she spun around and knocked his feet out from under him. "Who am I?" She read the look in his eyes. "I'm_ the_ Slayer and your totally history!" She jabbed the stake into his heart and closed her eyes as he exploded into dust. "I'm going to have to take a shower _again_." She grumped as she walked back to Xander brushing stray vampire out of her hair and off her blood red top. "How she doing?" She crouched down beside them.

Xander looked grim, all his earlier playful was gone replaced by the seriousness that represented his position. "She's lost a lot of blood." He, needlessly, informed her. "Couple more minutes and he would have drained her."

Buffy leaned in to get a better look at the girl. "So young. Can't be older than Dawn." She whispered as she brushed a stray curl away from the girls face. "Wait a minute." She leaned even closer. "I know her, she's the girl from earlier." This was bad.

"Earlier?" Xander peered at the girl. "The girl that answered the door at Samantha's? What was her name? Lassie? Casey? No, Cassie, right?" He let the revelation sink in. "We need to get her to a hospital." He was in full Watcher mode now, treating the girl as if she was one of his.

No, you know the rules. Vamp bites do _not_ get treated at unauthorized locations. Too many questions." Buffy reminded him. "I wasn't expecting vamp trouble on this little trip so I didn't fill out any of the necessary paper work involved for setting up a secure treatment area within a local hospital." But still, she couldn't let the girl die if there was a chance that she could be saved. "Get her back to the hotel and I'll meet you there." She pushed herself to her feet, spun around, and disappeared into the darkness.

Xander lifted the girl up and carried her all the way to the hotel, using the emergency stairwell to avoid questions from the front desk. Once he reached his and Buffy's room, he gently laid Cassie down on Buffy's bed then went in search of his Watcher's kit; something that never left his duffle bag.

Buffy, meanwhile, was already slamming through the doors of the emergency room at Colorado Springs Memorial Hospital. All she had to do was flash her badge, something that was given to all Watchers and Slayers in order to gain emergency access to hospital supplies, no questions asked. Within seconds she headed out of the hospital, arms laden with supplies. "I got it!" She dumped her booty onto Xander's bed once she reached the hotel and their room. "Take everything out of the mini fridge and put the blood in there to keep it cold." She ordered.

"Thank you got enough?" Xander asked as he did what he had been told. Once the blood was safe, he returned to the girls bedside. "She doesn't look good, Buffy."

"I didn't know her blood type so I had to grab some of each." Buffy dug through the other items she took and began to, expertly, assemble an IV. "You have a Typer with you?" She asked, never looking up from her work.

Xander opened up his previously retrieved Watchers kit and took out a small device no bigger than an iPod nano. "Right here." He held it up then pressed against Cassie's palm where it made a small cut. He held it there until a small, protruding strip, was soaked with blood. After that he, carefully, pressed the strip in and waited for it to read her blood type. "Remind me to tell Willow she's a bloody genius when we see her again." The Typer was one of Willow's most brilliant inventions. And sadly, the most used. A beep alerted him that it finished analyzing the sample. "Got it!" He quickly moved to the mini fridge where he retrieved the correct blood type packet then hurried to connect it to the IV Buffy had put together. "Think she'll make it?" He sat back down on the bed after making sure the blood was dripping and being carried through the make-shift IV into the girls arm. "Now we wait."

Buffy nodded and sat down on his bed, across from him. "The hardest part is waiting. But I think she'll make it, she looks like a fighter." She added and settled in for what was sure to be a very long night.


	9. Chapter 9

"_Unscheduled Offworld Activation!"_ Blared over the loud speakers followed by an alarm and flashing lights which caused the quiet base to spring to life. The commissary cleared out in a matter of seconds, each person trained to drop everything and report to their duty stations; something they did without question. Soon only one person remained to enjoy the solitude the now empty room provided. That person being Colonel Samantha Carter; second in command of the SGC's flagship team, SG-1. She wasn't exactly ignoring the alarm, she and General Landry had been expecting this new arrival for hours now. So she wasn't surprised when the base quieted once more, a few minutes later, and someone joined her at the table.

"I got here as fast as I could." Former Air Force General and now host to the Tok'ra Selmak, Jacob Carter explained as he slipped into a chair across from his daughter."Tarin said you sounded frantic when you contacted him, what's wrong?" He searched her for any signs of injury but found none. Her silence was starting to unnerve and worry him; she was never this quiet unless she was working on one of her gadgets. "Sammie?"

Samantha, better known as Sam to her friends, looked away from her cup of untouched blue jell-o. "You lied to me." She finally broke the silence that was beginning to stretch between them.

Jacob blinked at her tone and pushed away the urge to contact General Landry and inquire about his daughters mental health. "I lied to you?" He failed to understand her statement. "I don't understand, Sam. What did I lie to you about? When?" He, frantically, searched his memories for a clue as to what she was talking about but found none.

"You lied about my brother!" Suddenly, Sam seemed to come alive. "How could you?!" She hissed out as her barely contained anger began to push against her resolve.

"When did I lie about Mark?" Jacob wasn't the only one confused. Neither host nor symbiote knew what Sam was talking about. "Did something happen to Mark? Is he okay?"

Sam pushed herself away from the table causing her chair to scrap across the concrete floor. "I'm not talking about Mark! God, how can you be so..." She was seething now and not thinking straight. Had he truly forgotten about the child he had given away all those years ago? The very child that he had tearfully informed his two oldest children had died with its mother? A child she hadn't known, until this very day, had been a boy? A brother? "I'm talking about the child you _lied_ to us about twenty-seven years ago. Did you think we'd beg you to keep him? To not give him away like some...some...inanimate object?" She crossed her arms over her chest waiting for him to answer.

Jacob froze and ignored Selmak's demand for answers; she could wait, his daughter couldn't. "The baby died, Sam. How did I lie about that?" He felt old wounds being ripped open but he fought past the sadness and pain. "What's going on, Sam?" He really was confused now. What did his dead child have to do with anything? And why was she angry about it?

"Why do you keep referring to him as the _baby_? Or does it make it easier for you to forget about him that way?" Sam felt some of her anger drain upon hearing the honest confusion in his voice. She just wanted answers, was that too much to ask for?

"Because back then that particular hospital _didn't_ release the sex of stillborn children. They thought it was the humane thing to do. I always wondered..." Jacob trailed off and looked at his daughter when something occurred to him. "Brother." He whispered. "You're referring to the baby as a boy." It finally clicked. "What happened today, Sam? Something to do with the baby?"

Sam sat back down, her anger completely gone. "I had two visitors this afternoon. They introduced themselves as Xander Harris and Buffy Summers. Where they then told me that Xander, a nickname I'm sure, was my brother." She fell silent to let her words sink in.

Jacob sat back in his chair not expecting this revelation. "That's impossible." He finally said once he got over the shock. "Are you sure they weren't NID or some other Agency snooping around?"

"That's what we used to say about traveling to other worlds." Sam said, quietly. "I thought about that but I don't think so. They honestly looked nervous about telling me. If it was some elaborate lie then they would have been calm, collected, like they were trying to sell me it. The meeting was a little awkward, granted, but they didn't threaten me nor did I_ feel_ threatened at anytime. The girl, Buffy, even told me that they were staying at the Radisson downtown for another two days if I wanted to make contact. She put the ball in my court, something a trained operative wouldn't have done. They had ample opportunity to cause me harm and they didn't. I have to take that into account."

"So you believe their story?" Jacob just couldn't wrap his mind around it. "Any way we can check out if they really are who they say they are?" He questioned with a raised brow.

Sam smiled for the first time since her father arrived. "There sure is." She reached over and pulled her laptop, it had been discarded with a tray of food earlier, over so it was in front of her. Pulling up the correct program, she inputted the names, Xander Harris and Buffy Summers, into the system and sat back to wait for it to complete its search. To her surprise, it didn't take long at all. Scanning over the first window that popped up, a news paper article, she began to read the article aloud. "Massacre at California high school graduation leaves eighty students, the town Mayor, and school Principle dead and another twenty-five students wounded or missing. Sources close to the incident report that a local gang hyped up on PCP attacked during the Mayor's speech proceeding to kill anyone they laid eyes on. Angry that members of the student body, staff, and visiting parents were able to escape, several members slipped away from the crowd and planted high yield explosives around the school causing it to explode a short time later. Pictured below are five survivors. From left to right, Cordelia Chase, Oz Osbourne, Buffy Summers, Xander Harris, and Willow Rosenberg." She took a moment to observe each dirty, yet, smiling face in the picture. "That's one graduation I don't think any of them will ever forget."

Jacob pushed his chair back and moved around the table to get a better look at the picture. "Is there anything else on them?" He sat down in the chair beside her.

Typing in a few more commands Sam was able to cross reference the Massacre against all California high schools until she was able to find the right one. "Here's another article. Sunnydale High Rebuilt Better Than Ever." She read the title then moved on to the body. "When asked about their feelings in reference to the new Sunnydale High, most residence declined to comment. The ones that did had little praise for what they refer to as Sunnyhell High. Before it's destruction in nineteen ninety-nine, Sunnydale High had the highest mortality rate of any school in the United States. And the class of ninety-nine had the highest in the history of the school district. According to project foreman and former Sunnydale alumni, Xander Harris, 'the new school is not only state of the art and perfectly safe but it also lacks for nothing' while Peer Guidance Councilor Buffy Summers, another former alumni, is wary of the new school especially now that little sister, Dawn, is attending. She was quoted as saying '_If Dawn has to face some of the things my friends and I faced while attending Sunnyhell High, she'll have no problem in the real world because by the time she's ready to graduate something will have either tried to eat her, posses her, or pressure her to smoke._' When referring to another school Ms. Summers words may sound strange but they fit here at Sunnydale. Former Principle Flutie along with the school mascot, Herbert the pig, were attacked and essentially eaten when wild dogs broke into the campus during Ms. Summers sophomore year. While during her junior year a teacher was murdered by a janitor, it was rumored that he had been possed by an angry spirit, something he still claims to this very day." She blinked and looked at her father unable to believe what she had just read. "Are they serious? Spirits?"

"It would seem so." Jacob affirmed. "Sunnydale Press appears to be the local newspaper." He pointed out several articles on gang violence and store sales. "Why are you just getting newspaper articles? I thought your program was designed to pull up all relevant facts and data on a person?" Or that's what he understand when she explained it to him.

Sam frowned. "It is." She typed in another command and wasn't surprised when another article popped up. "It's an engagement announcement." She pointed out. "Anthony and Jessica Harris would like to announce the engagement of their only son, Alexander Harris to Anya Jenkins, daughter of Hans and Fritz Jenkins." She stopped reading after that when she saw the look on her fathers face. "What?"

Jacob was drawn to Anthony's name "I was at the academy with an Anthony Harris. We were friends and even kept in touch after graduation. Last I heard he had been caught drinking while on duty, for the third time, and given an dishonorary discharge. That had to be...twenty, maybe, twenty-five years ago." If Xander was indeed his son, how did his old Air Force buddy get him?

"I don't understand why this isn't working." Sam fought back the urge to slam her laptop on the table over and over again until it did what it was programed to do. "It's like the program is being rerouted before it reaches its destination."

"Rerouted? How?" Jacob eyed the screen as another article popped up. "Thanks to two students, Buffy Summers and Alexander Harris, of Sunnydale Highschool, a lunch lady's plot to poison all the students at Sunnydale High, has been unveiled. Mister Harris quickly alerted his fellow students when he stumbled upon the lunch lady pouring rat poison into the special of the day. Ms. Summers then wrestled away a butcher knife from the deranged woman when she charged out of the kitchen and into the cafeteria where she then alerted authorities to the situation. The police immediately arrested her and disposed of the meal." He paused for a moment. "What kind of a school was this and why did people continue to send their kids there?"

Sam shrugged. "I suppose because people, especially adults, see only what they want to. It was probably easier to just turn a blind eye to the goings on rather than face it." She typed something in and smiled when the correct data finally appeared on the screen. "Finally!"

Jacob had to smile at her enthusiasm. "You got something other than colorful newspaper articles that read like something out of the twilight zone?"

"I think so. I used a backdoor to gain access to their birth certificates." Sam was quite proud of her little hacking job. "Okay, Harris, Alexander LaVelle. Date of Birth: December ninth, nineteen eighty. Place of Birth: Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. Parents: Anthony and Jessica Harris. That's it for him. Summers, Buffy Anne. Date of Birth: January ninth, nineteen eighty-one. Place of Birth: Los Angeles Community Hospital. Parents: Hank and Joyce Summers. Birth certificates don't really tell you much." She pointed out.

"It tells me that if the kid really is mine, someone went through a lot of trouble to make his connection to his birth family disappear. It takes a lot of pull in all the right places to get a new birth certificate issued and filed." Jacob sighed and sat back, rubbed his head where a headache was forming.

Sam, having an idea, began to type in earnest. "I think I know another way to gain access to their records."

Jacob watched his daughter work not for the first time feeling extremely proud of her. "What are you doing."

"I'm going to bypass..." Sam trailed off when suddenly a set of numbers appeared in the lower right hand corner of the screen, flashing red. "Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh? Uh-oh what?" Jacob looked from Sam to the screen then back again. "What do we do?" His head bowed and when he looked up again his voice had deepened. "I believe flashing numbers are not a good sign, Colonel Carter." Selmak was tired of being left out of the conversation.

Sam gave Selmak a sheepish smile. "I think you're right." She pointed to something on the screen. " I think I may have, inadvertently, activated some kind of automated protection system. I imagine someone isn't going to be too happy with me." She tried to deactivate it but failed. "There is nothing we can do but wait and see what we've just flushed out."

Selmak gave his hosts daughter a stern look. "It would appear that Xander Harris and Buffy Summers are more than they appear." His head bowed again and this time Jacob reemerged. "They've been flagged, Sam. I've seen this before and it usually doesn't end well."

So caught up in the moment Sam actually jumped when the commissary phone rang. Standing, she went over to answer it. The conversation lasted a minute and when she returned to the table her face had taken on a grim look. "General Landry wants to see us. Seems he just received a phone call from the President and he really didn't sound happy about it."


	10. Chapter 10

Buffy groaned when she saw the line at the corner Starbucks. She had volunteered to get breakfast while Xander stayed and watched over the girl, who had yet to wake up. Is she had known it was going to be this packed at seven in the morning, she would have waited until later or sent Xander instead. "Bloody hell!" She cursed under her breath, thinking for a brief moment how much she sounded like Spike, as she joined the end of the long line. "Doesn't anybody in Colorado Springs make their own coffee anymore?" It wasn't a question she expected an answer to but got one anyways.

"Why make coffee at home when you have a Starbucks in town?" Daniel, who had been walking up the sidewalk when she posed her question, answered. He got in line behind her. "Where's your friend?"

"Back at the hotel. He's watching over a sick friend so I offered to go in search of some sort of nourishment." Buffy lied, smoothly. "You always up this early, Doctor Jackson?" If she was surprised to see him there, she didn't show it.

Daniel shoved his hands into his pants pockets. "I'm a little grumpy if I don't have at least one cup of coffee in the morning or so I'm told." He said with a small smile. "Actually, I'm suppose to be meeting a colleague here. His plane got in at six and he asked that I meet him here, it's apparently on his way."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Funny meeting spot, isn't it?" She blinked when she caught sight of someone heading towards them. "Impossible." She whispered because the person looked exactly like. "Oz?"

Oz stopped his approach and smiled, showing off two rows of unusually sharp, pointed, teeth. "Buffy!" He smiled. "Fancy meeting you here." It was his greeting to her. "So you two know each other?" He asked once he shook Daniel's hand and the greetings were out of the way.

Blinking, Daniel released the other mans hand, noting his firm grip. "We meet quite recently, actually." He couldn't help but wonder how these two, seemingly, different people knew each other.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Buffy moved forward to the counter. "Two chai teas and three blueberry scones to go, please." She ordered with a smile then motioned for the other two to order as well. "It's on me."

Chuckling, Oz also ordered a chai tea. "You can't visit England as much as I have and not become, at least partially, fond of their drink of choice." He explained to Daniel, who ordered a good old fashion cup of black coffee. "Apparently living there causes your palate to undertake some drastic changes." He directed his jib to Buffy, referring to her order of scones instead of muffins.

Daniel watched the two interact and couldn't help but notice how relaxed they seemed to be around each other. He smiled as he received his cup of coffee and thanked Buffy for paying then motioned for them to join him at a recently vacated table towards the back.

Buffy pulled out her credit card with a flourish and slapped it down on the counter to pay for the drinks and treats. Once the card had been scanned and charged, she carried her booty to the table with Oz following behind her. "I assume you two have business to discuss, if I'm intruding I can go. Xander will be expecting breakfast before noon anyways."

Oz motioned for her to sit in the third empty chair and even stood back up and pulled it out for her. "So, how's Willow doing?" He still cared about his ex and inquired about her well-being every change he got. "Oh, I almost forgot." He tilted his head to the side, removed two disks from an inside jacket pocket and handed one of them to Daniel while holding onto the other. "I translated as much as I could, sorry I couldn't be of more help." He apologized.

"You should call her. Kennedy and her broke up a while ago and I think she could use a friend." Buffy took a sip of her tea and pretended like she hadn't noticed the hand off, she was good at pretending. Almost as good as she was at lying.

"It was a long shot anyways." Daniel tucked the disk into his pocket and took a sip of his steaming beverage. "You two known each other long?" Now his curiosity was winning, he wanted to know.

"Since Sunnyhell High." Oz told the older man. "I dated one of her best friends and then made the biggest mistake of my life by letting her go." He was stating a fact, not seeking pity.

Buffy reached over and patted his hand. "You had your reasons and Willow did come to accept that." She cleared her throat. "How long have you known Doctor J, here?" A part of her pointed out that she had picked up Faith's bad habit of shorting every bodies name to just one letter, she promptly ignored it.

Daniel was the one to answer. "Several months, right? We met at that conference in Munich." It surprised him when Buffy seemed to focus on him suddenly. "What?"

Oz could not only see but sense Buffy's guard going up. She was well aware of what the conference in Munich was about since she had been the one to suggest he attend. "Yes, we met at the conference."

Trying to calm herself, Buffy took another sip of her drink. "So is the supernatural a hobby or something your interested in?" She tried to sound nonchalant but knew she had failed when the older mans eyes took on a guarded look of their own.

"Were you at the conference as well? I don't recall seeing you." Daniel knew something strange was going on here and was bound and determined to find out what it was.

"Buffy's the employer I was telling you about." Oz wasn't worried since he knew Buffy wouldn't do anything, in such a public place, to attract attention. "The one that funded my trip to Germany." He added for good measure.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Would you stop calling me that? As your friend I am more than happy to give you the money you need to continue to fund your research. But that _doesn't_ make me your employer." She stressed.

Daniel noted how uncomfortable she looked now that the younger man had fully revealed their relationship. "So your interested in the supernatural as well?"

"Mm, you could say that I have an invested interest in the subject." Buffy answered, cryptically. "Oz, here, is to be Summerlande's new mythology Professor once he's concluded his research abroad. How is that coming, by the way?" She inquired.

Oz finished his tea and discarded the cup in a nearby waste basket. "Almost finished. I should be finished by next month at the latest. Then I'm all yours." He spread his arms, an easy going smile lighting up his baby face.

"What are you researching?" Daniel couldn't help but ask. There was more to these two than meets the eye and he was betting that the other friend, the one back at the hotel, was the same way.

Buffy finished her own drink and pushed the cup away, planning on throwing it out when she was ready to go. "Werewolves." She answered for him then grinned. "Very fascinating work, if your into that kind of mythos."

"Oh yeah, very fascinating, indeed." Oz agreed with what could only be described as a wolfish smirk. "I expanded my research into Vampires as well, Germany is chalked full of references to creatures of the night."

Daniel blinked and shook his head. He wasn't sure if they were joking, not wanting him to know what the research was really about, or not. "Interesting." Something else was bothering him. "Where does the name Oz come from? Your first name is the same as mine, isn't it?"

"I've got to be going. Xander's probably ready to chew off his own arm." Buffy stood up, a movement Oz copied. She pulled her friend into a hug. "I'll see you later?" She whispered into his ear as he slipped the second disk into her pocket as he pulled away.

Oz pulled out of the hug. "I'll give Willow a call and see how she's holding up." A barely noticeable nod of his head was his reply to her whispered question. He watched as she grabbed the second cup of chai tea, bag of scones, and disappeared out the door and into the shadows of the morning. "My first name _is _Daniel." He made a face. "But I don't think anybody has called me that since I was like five. Oz comes from my last name, Osbourne. I thought it sounded much cooler especially when I got older joined a band." There was no more talk of the supernatural, werewolves, or even vampires. The rest of the conversation, until Daniel's pager went off and he had to hurry into work, was nothing more than small talk.


	11. Chapter 11

"Okay, I'm here. What's wrong?" Daniel asked, slightly out of breath, as he entered the briefing room.

"Have a seat, Doctor Jackson, you're early or rather our guest is late." The newly promoted Colonel Paul Davis said and motioned towards the empty chair beside Jacob.

Daniel blinked as he moved over to the chair and sat down. "Early for what? What guest? Why's he here?" He directed the last question to Sam in reference to her father. "And where is General Landry?"

Colonel Davis, Paul to his friends, folded his hands on the table in front of him. "He's on his way to Washington for a private briefing with the President."

"Oh." Daniel frowned. "Briefing on what?" With each passing second he was growing more and more confused. "What's going on?"

"Sam stumbled upon some highly classified material while working on a _personal_ project. Apparently, her discovery of this information has raised some eyebrows." Jacob explained, grimly.

Daniel focused on his quiet friend, she didn't look too good. "What did you do hack into the Pentagon's X-Files?" He kept his voice light, teasing. His teasing tone disappeared when he refocused on Paul. "How could she have stumbled upon something she doesn't have clearance to? I thought we all had the highest clearance known to man?"

"You do." A new voice added from the direction of the stairs, they hadn't even heard his approach. "For _your_ country."

"Leave us." Paul dismissed the two airmen escorting the newcomer. "I'm glad you could fly in on such short notice." He motioned for the late arrival to sit at the head of the table. "Now that we're all here, lets get started." He stood and began to pace around the table. "First let me introduce Professor Daniel Osbourne, NWC representive. He's here to determine if we pose a security risk. You're to give him your full cooperation, understood?" He directed the question towards the two Carters.

"Oz?" Daniel was shocked to say the least. Gone was the easy going, laid back, young man that he had just had coffee and small talk with. In his place was a man that had clearly seen more than most people his age, if his eyes were any indication. "This is what you were flying into Colorado Springs for?"

Oz gave the other man an impassive look. "Looks like it." With that simple answered he dismissed his presence and focused on the pacing Pentagon liaison to the SGC. His expression clearly showed that he was waiting for some answers.

Paul didn't seemed surprised that the NWC representive knew Daniel. "Professor Osbourne, this is Jacob Carter, his daughter Colonel Samantha Carter, and you obviously already know Doctor Jackson." He introduced by pointing to each person. "It was Colonel Carter and her father that attempted the illegal intrusion." He pointed out.

"Why?" Oz directed his attention to the quiet blonde that had been pointed out to be Colonel Samantha Carter.

Sam looked up and held the younger mans gaze. She was surprised to see a mirror image from one of the earlier photos looking back at her. "You're friends of theirs." It wasn't a question but rather a statement of fact.

Oz sized her up. "Since high school." He told her, honestly. "You still haven't answered my question." He pointed out.

Jacob felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something about this _kid _screamed danger. "You mentioned something about highest clearance level in _our_ country, what did you mean because you sure sound American? And what the hell is the NWC?"

"I'm here on behalf of the Crown." Oz eyed Jacob, this one felt different than the others. He got an uneasy feeling from Samantha but this one...this one didn't feel human. "You were attempting to gain access to highly sensitive MI5 documents and, as your Colonel already explained, I'm here to find out why. As for the NWC, all information regarding my employer is classified." He gave Jacob a look that clearly said not to ask about the NWC again.

Daniel noticed something. "You don't trust us, do you? Or does that mistrust apply to the entire military and not just us?" He asked.

Oz blinked and looked at Daniel. "The United States military has a history of sticking its nose where is doesn't belong. Ask the Army, they'll tell you."

"We're not the Army, Professor Osbourne." Paul assured. "We do things differently here."

"We're the good guys." Sam quoted her former CO, General Jack O'Neill. "And you're a good guy too, right? So why don't we cut the crap and get right down to it? What's your real interest in this? Is it because I was researching your friends or because I was trying to hack into British Intelligence files? It was an accident, as I told General Landry. I have no secret agenda."

"Both, actually." Oz let out a barely audible sigh. "I have been authorized to give you the information you were trying to illegal obtain if, and only if, I deem you a non-security risk to the people of Great Britain." He pulled out two folders that had been concealed inside his jacket. "Harris, Alexander, DOB-December nineteenth, nineteen-eighty." One folder was placed on the table. "Summers, Buffy, DOB-January nineteenth, nineteen-eighty-one." Another folder was placed on top of the other. Once that was out of the way, he waited.

"Wait, this is about the two I interviewed about the café incident?" Daniel sat back in his chair when two identical pairs of blue eyes locked on him. "What?"

* * *

**Authors Note**

This is way shorter than I would have liked but my muse just didn't want to write this chapter. This was actually the third draft and it still turned out like this so please forgive me. The next chapter will be longer, I promise.


	12. Chapter 12

**Radisson Hotel, Colorado Springs**

"So what did Willow say?" Xander asked around a mouthful of popcorn. He chewed, happily, as he waited for her to answer.

Buffy tossed her cellphone onto the bedside table and stretched back out beside him on the only open bed. She stole a handful of his salty treat in the process. "She said that the old guy is the girls father and them dancing in the rain signified her being ready to marry."

Xander shoved another handful of popcorn into his mouth. "Hm." He mulled over the explanation for a moment as he chewed. "And the water buffalo?" He asked once he swallowed.

"There's _always_ a water buffalo in these kinds of films." Buffy pointed out. "But Wil is certain that in this movie _this_ water buffalo is a beloved pet that is mourned greatly at the end." She quoted her friends exact words.

"Mourned?" Xander frowned and sat the bowl of salty goodness on the bed between them and turned towards her. "When does it die?!" He demanded to know then grew defensive at the look she was sending his way. "What? We've been watching this movie for over two hours and I've grown rather attached to Philip. He's the only character in the entire movie that I understand!"

Buffy chuckled and patted his leg. "Philip the water buffalo, huh?" She sounded skeptic in his choice of names. "He doesn't look like a Philip." She added for good measure.

Xander stuck his tongue out at her and narrowed his one eye. "Like _you_ could do better?" He faked a cough. "Mister Gordo." Another fake cough followed.

As Buffy opened her mouth to defend her beloved stuffed pig, the girl on the other bed began to stir. "About time." She was starting to go stir crazy being stuck in doors for so long, only going out to get things they absolutely needed. "Shut that off." She motioned towards the tv then the remote in his hands as she slid off the bed and into the chair that had been placed at the girls bedside.

Clicking the tv off, Xander followed Buffy off the bed they had been lounging on. "I was beginning to worry." He admitted as he sat down on the foot of the girls bed.

Buffy nodded. "So was I." They had stopped giving her transfusions hours ago but she hadn't shown signs of life until now. "Hey, can you hear me?" She leaned down, closer to the girl, and asked.

Groaning, Cassie opened one eye then another. Why did they feel so heavy? Blearily, she looked at the form sitting beside her. "What happened?" She mumbled around a dry tongue.

Xander handed Buffy a bottle of water from the floor by his feet before she could ask for it. "You don't remember?" He took over the questioning while Buffy tended to her needs at the moment.

"Here, drink this." Buffy pressed the bottle to her dry lips and held it as she drank. "Go easy or you'll make yourself sick." She warned.

Cassie took several large gulps but took the warning to hear and stopped before she consumed too much. "I remember..." She trailed off as she tried to recall the events that lead up to this point. "I was downtown at Omni with some friends and this boy asked me to dance." Her eyes glazed over as the events began to come to her, little by little. "He said he needed a smoke and asked if I'd join him outside to keep him company." A hand reached up to touch her neck but instead of skin encountered the softness of a bandage. "He kissed my neck and then I felt coldness. I think...I think he bit me." Confusion colored her voice. "Why would he do that?" She mumbled and reached out to clutch the nearest hand, which happened to be Buffy's. "I heard a noise but I couldn't move and suddenly he was gone. You saved me, didn't you?" She blinked to clear the fuzziness from her eyes. "It was you that pulled him away from me." It was whispered as brown eyes locked with hazel.

"Can you tell me your name?" Xander asked after hearing her recount of events. She seemed clear headed but he needed to be sure.

"Cassandra Fraiser." Cassie felt her eyes drop as sleep pressed at her. "Why do I feel like I was hit by a mack truck?" She tightened her hold on the hand she was clutching.

Buffy smoothed back a piece of sweat soaked hair on the girls forehead using her free hand. "Like you said, he did bit you. And because of the bit you lost some blood. So you need to rest, okay?"

Cassie tried to nod her head but winced in pain. "Where am I?" She finally noticed her surroundings and they didn't look familiar.

Xander pushed himself to his feet and opened his arms wide. "Welcome to our humble, temporary, abode. I like to call it Xander's love nest." He grinned, wickedly, thrilled that the girl was alright.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy stood and smacked him on the arm. "And to the rest of planet earth that _doesn't _live in Xander's universe, it's called the Radisson and it's located downtown. Are you hungry? We have some left over white rice from Chinese we had at lunch, you should be able to keep that down."

"Maybe later." Cassie felt her stomach lurch at the mention of food. "I should probably use your phone, though, before Sam has the entire Air Force out looking for me. She's so going to kill me." She noticed a look pass between the two. "What? Did something happen to Sam?" She demanded to know as she tried to push herself up on the bed.

"We're not sure. We tried calling but no one answered and Buffy swung by her house this morning and she wasn't home so..." Xander explained as Buffy forced the girl to lie still. "I'm sure she's alright. How much trouble can she get into working at NORAD?" It was an innocent enough question, _if_ you truly were clueless to what was going on _under_ Cheyenne Mountain.

Cassie forced herself to calm down. "You're right." She finally conceded. "She probably just got caught up in a project at work. She does that sometimes." She felt her eyes droop. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep now, 'kay?"

Buffy smoothed back another strain of hair. "Okay." Buffy whispered when she noticed the girl was already asleep. "She has old eyes." She told Xander after several minutes of silence.

Xander stood and stretched. "She does." He walked over to the table and began to rummage through the cartons of cold Chinese. "Ah-ha!" Turning, he had a fortune cookie clutched in his hand. "How long you figure she'll sleep?" He unwrapped his prize, snapped it in half, and shoved half into his mouth and tossed the other half to Buffy.

"Couple hours, I imagine." Buffy snatched the sailing half of cookie out of mid air and popped it into her mouth. "Hand me my phone, would ya? I wanna call Giles and see if he knew about Oz being in the states."

"You think he's keeping stuff from you again?" Xander asked as he stepped over to the bedside table, grabbed her phone, and tossed it to her before plopping down on the soft mattress.

Buffy shrugged. "Never hurts to be sure, now does it? Doctor Jackson said Oz was flying into Colorado Springs anyways, kinda suspicious isn't it? If it's council business, why haven't we been informed? Hm? You _are_ a Watcher aren't you? And I _am_ a Slayer, last time I checked." She had completely forgotten about the disk Oz had slipped her.

Xander propped his head up. "It _is_ kinda suspicious seeing as we are here too." He frowned. "I hate it when G-Man goes all...old school on us."

"He'll learn someday not to keep things from us, especially the me part of us." Buffy hit one and waited for the phone to dial the familiar number saved on speed dial. "Hi, Jeanie, I need to speak to Giles." She rolled her eyes. "It's Buffy, Buffy Summers? No, I don't have an appointment. No, I won't call back later!" Covering the mouthpiece, she gave Xander a look. "Still think he's _not_ sleeping with this one? She doesn't even know who the hell I am!"

"Man, he gets laid more than I do." Xander pouted. "That is _so_ not cool! He's like old and I'm like _not!_"

Buffy moved her hand. "What do you mean he isn't taking any calls from me today. Why not? He's busy? Doing what?!" She demanded to know.

Xander watched as Buffy's knuckles began to turn white from clutching the phone.

"You can't tell me?" Buffy's voice dropped and turned cool. "Well then, tell Giles that he better call me when he gets _un_busy or he's going to have to deal with one pissed off Slayer!" She hit the end button and flung the phone onto the bed with a growl. "He's not taking any calls from me, what's up with that?" Her voice turned from cool to hurt.

"Maybe he's mad because we both took off to the states without consulting him first?" Xander suggested.

Buffy snorted. "Or maybe he hiding something from me?" She made her own suggestion.

Xander nodded. "Or maybe that too." He agreed and scooted over so she could lay down beside him.

"I hate him somethings, Xand." Buffy crawled into the bed and snuggled up to his side. "He keeps things from me, important things, then wonders why I get all angry and pissed off when I find out. It makes me wonder if Dawn is safe there with him."

"He'd never hurt Dawn, Buff." Xander placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Besides that, Andrew's there with her. He wouldn't let anything happen to his little wookie-pie." He said with a smirk, using the nickname Andrew made up for Dawn. "How'd those two ever hook up, anyways? You never did tell me." Not so subtlety he changed the subject.

Buffy signed but didn't say anything when he changed the subject. "Dawn said it was love at first fight. They were arguing in the kitchen over what to make for dinner and she slapped him. Needless to say, he slapped her back and..." She made a face. "The rest is history."

Xander chuckled. "Who would have thought that Dawnie was into _that_ kind of thing? I mean it's no surprise with Andrew, he's always been weird and slightly deranged. What do you think about their engagement?"

"I try not to, actually." Buffy said, softly. "I wasn't too comfortable, at first, with her dating the little weasel, not after all the trouble he caused. But, as Dawn is so fond of mentioning, he proved himself in the end. So as long as he treats her right and doesn't try to end the world or murder someone, I'm cool with it. I haven't seen her this happy since...before the divorce. I'm not going to be the one to take that away from her. Not now or ever."

"You're a good sister, Buffy Summers." Xander wrapped her in a hug and breathed in the scent of her perfume. "Dawn's lucky to have you."

Buffy felt herself blush at his kind words and managed to wrap her arms around him in return. "And you're too good to be true, Xander Harris." And that's the way they stayed for the next two hours, wrapped in each others arms.

* * *

**Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado Springs**

Oz fought back the urge to roll his eyes. Ever since Daniel had connected the names that the Carter's had been researching with those he interviewed about some incident at a café, all hell had broken loose. Everybody was talking at once and Colonel Davis, his escort for the day, was trying to bring things under control. "I'll give you one final chance to tell me why you wanted this information so badly. If you don't tell me, Great Britain _and _France will both pull their support for this little _program_." He stated calmly and knew they had heard him when the room grew quiet once again.

"Excuse me?" It was Daniel that broke the new wave of silence. "Was that a threat?"

"No, it was a promise. As Colonel Davis mentioned at the beginning of this...meeting...your Commanding Officer is meeting with the President for a briefing on this very subject. The Prime Minister of Great Britain and the French President will also be attending the briefing." Oz told them, matter-of-factly.

Sam had fought to keep her private life private but now she had no choice or did she? "Why is France involved?"

Oz eyed her. "France owes us a favor." Was all he said. "I don't know what you do here..." He motioned towards the closed blast doors blocking the view to anything beyond the briefing room. "But I do know that it's secret and extremely classified. Those two words usually don't go well with United States Military added in, as the Prime Minister and French President are now learning. Be happy that it was the Army, not the Air Force, that screwed up last time or we wouldn't even be having this conversation. Now do you really want this information or not?"

"Buffy Summers and Xander Harris came to my house yesterday afternoon. They claimed that Xander just found out that he was adopted and that I was his sister." Sam finally admitted with some reluctance.

"Really?" If Oz was shocked, he didn't show it. As a matter of fact, Oz didn't show much emotion at all. "Interesting." This was not what he had been expecting or what he had been told to expect. "Did they say anything else?"

Sam shook her head. "Not really. Buffy just said that they'd be in town for a couple more days and that Xander was a good man.

Oz nodded, once. "He is a good man. A good friend too." He pushed the two folders towards her. "You and whoever else reads the files will have to sign the forms inside saying you won't tell anyone about what's in the folders and about this meeting. No one outside this room is to know, understood?" He waited until she passed out the papers and each person signed them and passed them to him. "If you break the agreement, not even your government will be able to protect you." It was clearly a threat and he left it that way. "Now, if you will excuse me, I places to be and people to see." He stood, gathered up his signed forms, and motioned for Colonel Davis to lead the way.

Jacob cleared his throat to stop the younger man from leaving just yet. "The newspaper articles we read about Sunnydale, were they true?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Oz threw over his shoulder as he followed the Colonel out of the room.

Daniel waited until he was sure Oz was gone before speaking again. "I think we just got a polite _classified_ handed to us. It felt weird being on the receiving end, didn't it?" He was trying to break the tension that was still hanging heavy in the room. "So...want to fill me in?"


	13. Chapter 13

"Is your friend really Sam's brother?" Cassie asked after observing her savior in silence for several minutes after waking.

"That's what we're here to find out." Buffy answered, automatically, as she turned away from the window and towards the girl.

Cassie tilted her head to the side, her neck not hurting at all now. "How can you not know for sure?" Somethings about Earth still confused her, even after all this time.

Buffy moved over to the bed and sat down on the edge. "Well, Xander grew up thinking that the Harris' were his parents. He never knew otherwise until some lady from New York decided to take it upon herself to shatter his world." She couldn't keep the bitterness out of her voice and suddenly she felt tired, very tired.

"He loves you." Cassie suddenly had the urge to reassure this woman she barely knew. It was like she could _feel_ her pain.

"I know. I think I've known since high school but I was always too busy to really notice." Buffy looked down at her hands. "How'd you know?"

Cassie gave her a small smile. "He looks at you like Uncle Daniel looks at Sam. And I _know_ he loves her." She took a moment to just study the other girl. "You're not happy that he another family, are you?"

Buffy snorted. "Our lives haven't exactly been easy but things have been good these past couple of years. Good until now." She stood again, having the urge to move. "I talked him into coming here. No regrets, I said. No regrets for him, maybe." She was now back at the window and staring out.

"I'm a very good listener." Cassie offered as she pushed herself up in the bed until she was resting against the headboard. "It's the least I can do to pay you back."

"Sure, why not?" Buffy threw her hands in the air, a sign of defeat, and turned back to Cassie. What Xander didn't know was that she had been, seriously, considering retiring before this little trip. She was just so tired of fighting the good fight. "My parents got divorced when I was sixteen. Dad didn't want anything to do with us after that. Then mom got sick and died. I was left alone to raise my little sister. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still had my friends but..." She sat down on the other bed, this time. "They could go home at the end of the day and I couldn't."

Cassie nodded, understanding. "So why does your friend get a second chance when you deserve it more?" Oh yes, she completely understood because she found herself feeling the exact same way on occasion, especially after her mother died. Why had the staff blast killed her mother instead of the Airman she was treating or even Daniel who was taping the whole damn thing?

Buffy sniffled and wiped at her eyes, angerly. "It's stupid, I know. Xander's life hasn't been a bed of roses either; his dad drank and beat his mother while they both ignored his very existence. If anybody deserves a second chance, it's him." She whispered, glad that the room was growing darker with the setting of the sun. It matched her mood.

"It's not stupid, it's very human." Cassie chewed on her bottom lip debating what she was going to share. "I lost my parents twice, so I completely understand. First I lost my biological parents then I lost my adopted mom. But it hurt worse the second time because...that _was _my second chance and you don't get anymore."

"How'd they die? You parents and mom?" Buffy asked, curious, because this girl _did_ know and understand what she was going through.

Cassie laid her head back and turned it to watch the setting sun out the window. "My parents were killed when a flu epidemic swept through Toronto and my mom was an Air Force doctor, she died treating a wounded Airman during a firefight. He survived thanks to her." Now it was her turn to sound bitter. Every time she told someone her cover story, it made her parents death feel unimportant, like they didn't even matter.

Buffy moved from one bed to another. "Then you should be proud of her. To die in battle is to die like a warrior." She knew this first hand. "My mom died from post-op complications due to a brain tumor."

"You sound like Murray." Cassie turned her head to face Buffy again and sniffed at the memories. She took a moment to clear the tears from her eyes then gave her a watery smile. "He's not going to leave you, I could see the devotion in his eyes. He's _smitten_ with you."

"You can't be sure of that but thanks anyways." Buffy reached up and pulled the girl into a hug. "You have a gift, Cassie. I don't talk to people easily but I didn't even think twice to lay myself bare in front of you." She was happy to move onto another subject. "You ever think of becoming a councilor?"

Cassie raised an eyebrow. "Like help people and stuff?" She shook her head. "I never declared a major at school, well, when I was actually attending. I went through a rough patch after mom died and dropped out half way through my freshman year. I wait tables at Frankie's now. Not very glorious, I know."

Buffy titled her head to the side. "What if I offered you job, right here and now, would you take it?"

Surprised, Cassie could only stare. "I guess that depends on what the job is."

"Well, we're always looking for new people who are qualified to work with our girls. A lot of them come from broken homes." Buffy nodded once, as if she had come to a decision of some kind. "Ever hear of Summerlande Academy?" She questioned as she got up and went in search of her own duffle bag. "Found you!" She yanked it out from under the bed and began to dig through it. After several minutes, and turning on a light, she sat back down on the bed with a folder full of papers in her hand.

Cassie blinked and watched in amusement as clothes was flung out of the bag and onto the floor. "Summerlande Academy? Sure I've heard of it, who hasn't? It's always on the news and in the papers."

Buffy chuckled. "You'd be surprised at how many people _haven't_ heard of it." She sat the folder down on the Cassie's lap. "I can offer you any number of positions but I'd really like for you to consider the Councilor or Peer Councilor position."

"You're serious?" Cassie looked down at the folder then opened it. Inside was several brochures with Summerlande Academy written across them in big, bold, letters. "You work for Summerlande?"

"Kinda." Buffy dismissed then pulled out the correct brochures for the two positions she mentioned. "The pay is good and the benefits aren't bad either." She pointed out. "We need people like you. People that understand where the girls are coming from."

Cassie's head was reeling. Just yesterday she was in an alley getting bit by some psycho and now she was being offered a job by her savior. "Kinda?" She flipped open one of the brochures and began to skim over the information. She had to admit that it sounded too good to be true. "What's the catch?" If she had learned anything since living on Earth, it was everything usually had a price.

Buffy smiled, all traces of her darkening mood gone. "Yup, kinda. No catch."

"No catch?" Cassie asked, skeptically. "I don't have to pay anything or do anything?"

"Nope." Buffy liked recruiting for the school, it made her feel normal. "Well, you'd have to move because we don't have a west coast campus yet and I think the compute would be a bit long."

Cassie took a breath and let it out. She was beginning to feel giddy. This was exactly what she had been looking for. A reason to leave Colorado Springs and start over. "Cleveland right?" She remembered from the news.

Buffy nodded. "Cleveland is one of our campus' yes. But you wouldn't have to pick Cleveland. Our main campus is in London with secondary campus' in North America, Africa, France, Germany, and one coming soon in Australia. You could pick any one of them to work at."

"Wow." Cassie was speechless. "Anyone of them?" She hadn't even been out of the United States before, regardless of her cover story placing her birth in Canada, she'd never actually been there before. "If you _kinda _work for Summerlande, what do you do?"

"Buff teaches martial arts at the London Campus." Xander said as he closed the door behind him, arms full of pizza boxes. "Lucy, I'm home!" He did his best imitation of Ricki Ricardo.

"Pizza!" Buffy was on her feet and moving faster than a normal human to get to the pizza. "Mushroom?" She asked, hopeful.

Xander grinned. "Bottom box." He didn't even blink as she snatched it out of his hands and scurried off to the rooms lone table. "How you feeling, Cassie?" He asked as he carried the other boxes to the table and sat them down. "Hungry?"

Cassie blushed when her stomach growled in answer to his question. "A little." She said, sheepishly, as she climbed out of bed and slowly made her way to the table where she dropped into an empty chair. "So you work at Summerlande too?"

"Yup, I'm Mister Fix-It." Xander announced as he sat down and snatched two slices of sausage pizza out of one of the boxes.

Buffy swallowed her mouthful of pizza. "What he means to say is that he teaches carpentry and a handful of other classes." She took another bite.

"So you're both teachers?"Cassie asked as she, also, took a slice of sausage.

Xander nodded. "Teaching takes up a good portion of our day but we also have our admin duties." He made a face. "I'd rather carve an ornate chest rather than talk about the budget any day."

Cassie blinked. "Administration too?" It sounded complicated.

"Well, we have to make sure our money is going where we say it should go." Buffy glared at Xander. "The weekly budge meetings were _your_ idea, remember Xand? You wanted every cent of _your _hard earned Sunnyhell crater money accounted for." She reminded him.

"You're money? You own Summerlande Academy?" Cassie asked in shock because they sure didn't act like they were rich enough to own a school.

"Oh, yeah." Xander took another bite and shrugged. "Sorry, my bad." He chewed and swallowed. "Summerlande was named after Buff's mom, God rest her soul. We decided to something worth while with the money the state of California gave us after an old mine shaft collapsed and swallowed our town and all of our earthly, and otherwise, belongings."

Buffy snorted. "It's not just us. Summerlande is owned by family." She got up and brought over one of the brochures. She sat it on the table and turned it over. "Meet the family. That's Giles, he's like a surrogate father to us all." She pointed him out. "And that's Willow, our bestest bud." She pointed to the red head. "And that's my sister Dawn and her little weasel, aka husband to be." She pointed out her sister and Andrew. "That's the family, our family."

Cassie eyed the picture. "You all look close." She was reminded of SG-1 and how close the team was. "Can I think about the job offer?"

"Take all the time in the world." Buffy said and dug back into her pizza.

Xander blinked. "You offered her a job? How long was I gone?" He looked down at his wrist and tried to read his very advanced, expensive, gadgety, watch. "It wasn't that long!" He finally gave up.

Both Buffy and Cassie laughed at his comic tone of voice and soon he joined it. It was almost like the three of them were old friends just catching up instead of two old friends and a new one.


	14. Chapter 14

"Cassie, I'm home!" Sam called out as she opened the front door to her house and stepped inside. "Come on in, Daniel. Would you like some coffee, I could sure use some?" She headed for the kitchen.

Daniel closed the door behind him. "No, thanks." He declined then asked to her retreating back. "You want some help?"

"I got it." Sam said as she stuck her head out the kitchen door for a second. She put on a pot of coffee then headed down the hall and towards Cassie's bedroom. "Cass, you awake?" She pushed open the door and stopped when she saw the bed made and Cassie nowhere to be seen. "Cassie?!" This time her call was laced with panic.

"Is there something wrong?" Daniel asked as he joined her in the hall. He followed her eyes and surveyed the room.

"She's not here." Sam told him. "And her bed hasn't been slept in." She knew this because Cassie never, ever, made her bed. "She must have never came home." Turning, she headed back to the kitchen where she showed him the note she left two nights ago.

Daniel took the note, read it, then laid it on the counter. "Maybe she's staying at a friends house?" He suggested, logically, not wanting to jump to any conclusions before they had all the facts.

Sam grabbed the cordless phone off the counter and disappeared into the living room without a word. Ten minutes later she reappeared looking extremely worried. "Mary Alice said they went clubbing two nights ago but she lost track of Cassie about two hours after arriving. She just figured she bailed and went home. But she did mention that she had seen Cass talking to a boy."

"Did she say who the boy was?" Daniel wasn't worried since Cassie was old enough to know right from wrong.

"No, she just said _some_ boy." Sam clutched the phone. "I should have stopped her from leaving or come home sooner!" She slammed the phone down onto the counter top and slumped onto a nearby counter stool.

Daniel frowned. "You had just found out you could have another brother, you were in shock. And you couldn't come home any earlier." He sat down beside her on another stool. "I know you don't want to admit this but Cassie _is _an adult, by any planets standards. Janet did a good job raising her." He, soothingly, pointed out.

Sam blew out a breath. "You sound just like her." She admitted. "I just don't know what to do with her, Daniel. "She's been so reserved and secretive since Janet died. She rarely talks to me about anything anymore. And when we _do _talk it always ends in an argument and her storming out of the house. So I can't help but worry." She confessed. "I'm afraid she's going to do something stupid like runaway to punish me for being such a horrible parent and equally horrible friend."

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Daniel asked. "I would have been more than happy to spend some time with her. I think we all would have. She's apart of this family, regardless of her recent attitude change."

"I didn't want to burden you guys. Cassie is my responsibility, _I_ promised Janet." Sam sighed and ran a hand through her short, blonde, hair. "She could be hurt or worse." She whispered.

Daniel slid off the stool. "Then lets go hunt for her." He was already heading for the front door. He'd do whatever he could to make Sam feel better even if that meant searching the entire Colorado Springs area until they located her wayward charge.

Sam slid off her stool, grabbed her car keys off the counter, and followed after him. "I'll drive."

**

* * *

**Cassie stood in awe as the black BMW sedan, with black tinted windows, came to a halt in front of her. "Wow, this is a 760Li isn't it?" She admired the sleekness of the car. "Is it yours?" She asked her companions. 

"It belongs to Summerlande." Xander said as he pulled open the backdoor. "Your carriage awaits milady." He did a little bow.

Buffy rolled her eyes and turned when the front window lowered. "You find the place alright, Morris?" She asked the driver.

"I did, Mizz Summers." Morris replied with a smile. "But I gots a question for you. How'd you get here in the first place? I don't recall being called for a ride." He waited, patiently, for an explanation from his young employers.

"You have a driver too?" Cassie asked with wide eyes. She'd never ridden in a car with a driver before. "Hi, I'm Cassie!" She enthusiastically greeted the driver as she slid inside the car.

Xander ran a hand through his short, brown, hair. "Well, you see." He started to promptly explain. "We took the bus. Cassie here offered to be our tour guide for the day and how could we refuse?" He added, trying to sound believable.

Morris hummed and focused on the new girl. "Pleased to meet you, Mizz Cassie. My name is Morris." He greeted her back then turned his attention to the two still standing outside the car. "You took the bus when I was just a phone call away?" His question had a hint of chiding in it. "Well, get in then." The front window closed.

"You're the best, Morris." Buffy said after she shared a look with Xander. They really had taken the bus so they could avoid using the car and driver. They loved Morris but sometimes they wanted to fell like average people and they couldn't do that with a chauffeur. She slid into the car beside Cassie.

"Yeah, the best." Xander followed Buffy in and pulled the door closed. He had to admit he hadn't had this much fun since...ever really. "You ready to go home, Cass?"

Cassie nodded and reached up to scratch at the band-aid on her neck. The larger, cloth, bandage had been replaced this morning before they set off on their sightseeing adventure. She gave Morris her address and sat back to enjoy the ride in comfort.

"So what all did you three see today?" Morris asked after several minutes of silence.

Buffy's face lit up and she took it upon herself to regal the driver with the days exploits. "Well, first we went to the Garden of the Gods, man it was wicked cool. Then we went to Old Colorado City Historic District for lunch, which was heavenly. And we finished up at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which you already figured out since that's where you picked us up from." She babbled, happily.

Xander grinned at her willow-esqe babble. "The Zoo was the best, I think. Don't you just love animals? Which was your favorite, huh? Huh? I liked the monkeys."

"That's because you were in like company." Buffy joked and patted his leg. "What was it like being with your own kind?" She asked, seriously.

"I liked the Giraffes. They are very beautiful creatures." Cassie said with a small smile as she clutched the stuffed giraffe they had bought her. This was the first time she had ever been to the zoo. Jack had promised to take her once she got settled but he was always busy or maybe he just forgot? Then Sam promised her but something always seemed to come up so she stopped promising. Then her mom promised to take her but she always seemed to be at the base treating wounded SG team members and then she died. She could have went with her class at school but she was out sick when they went. So in the end she just stopped asking. But when her new friends had asked for a tour guide, she had jumped on the chance. "I had fun today." Then something dawned on her. "Why didn't you guys want to see the hyena's?" She questioned.

"Hyena's are not good animals. Nope, nothing good about them. They eat things like pigs and principles." Xander mumbled.

Buffy took pity on her friend. "Sophomore year our school mascot and principle were _eaten_." She explained. "A pack of hyena's got out of their exhibit at the Zoo and no more Principle Flutie or Herbert the pig aka our mascot. The newspapers and police blamed wild dogs but whoever heard of wild dogs in California? A couple of us wanted to know the truth and we found out that the zoo keeper left them out. He was a real nut job."

Morris rolled up the custom installed privacy window to let them talk in private. He happily concentrated on the driving, using the on-star to guide him through the unfamiliar area.

**

* * *

**"We searched everywhere, Daniel." Sam was beginning to feel sick. "Somethings happened to her, I just know it." She was already heading up her walk towards her house. "I'll call in and have General Landry assemble a team for search and rescue." 

"Aren't you jumping the gun a little here, Sam? Maybe she just needed a break?" Daniel was also beginning to worry. Cassie usually checked in if she was going to be gone for more than a few hours.

Sam stopped and turned towards her friend who had been following behind her. "And maybe she's hurt or maybe she was kidnaped? Ever think about that? We have loads of enemies right here, Daniel." She pointed to the ground to show that she was referring to Earth. "There's still rogue NID out there not to mention who knows how many Ba'al clones. Anyone number of people could have taken her to me, to us." She pointed out. "Kidnaping is not beneath them."

Daniel opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he saw a black car with tinted windows pull up. He tilted his head to the side. "You expecting company, Sam?" He asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"No." Sam stepped up beside Daniel. "Dad can't be back from New York yet." Her father had left on the first flight out of Colorado Springs that very morning. He was going in search of the woman that had contacted Xander. She watched as a black man in uniform climbed out of the drivers side and moved around to the back passenger side door which he opened.

Xander climbed out of the car and stretched. It wasn't a long drive from the Zoo to Cassie's house but it felt good to stretch his legs all the same. He turned and reached in helping Buffy then Cassie out. "Looks like we have an audience." He whispered to Buffy.

"You behave now." Morris chided as he moved around the car and climbed back in. He had been instructed to leave them and return to his hotel. They'd call if they needed a ride back to their hotel. He pulled away from the curb and headed down the road.

Cassie watched the car drive away then turned towards the audience. "Hey Sam, Uncle Daniel." She greeted and waved her stuffed animal at them as she started up the walkway. "You just get home?"

Sam rushed down the walk and pulled Cassie into a tight hug. "I was worried sick about you." She looked over Cassie's head at the two standing on the sidewalk. They hadn't moved. "What happened? Why didn't you come home?" She demanded to know as she pulled away from the younger girl.

"I was staying with Buffy and Xander." Cassie said in way of an explanation. "They were taking care of me, actually."

"Taking care of you?" Daniel stepped up behind the pair. "What happened?"

Cassie hurried to explain already seeing her _family _grow suspicious of the younger pair. "I went to Omni with Mary Alice and I met this boy. He asked me to keep him company outside while he smoked. Once we were outside he went nuts. Buffy and Xander were just coming out of the club when they heard a commotion. They pulled him off of me but not before he bit me." She reached up and touched the band-aid. "He came close to an artery and I lost some blood. So they took me back to their hotel room and nursed me back to health." She turned to her rescuers and motioned for them to join her.

"I was a perfect gentleman, I swear." Xander defended himself from the looks they were sending his and Buffy's way.

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?" Sam asked, suspicious. What were the chances of the man claiming to be her brother just happening to save Cassie?

"Our hotel was closer and we do know a thing or two about caring for an injured girl." Buffy defended their actions as best she could. "We didn't even know it was Cassie until after we scared the guy off."

"You come across _injured_ girls often, do you?" Daniel asked with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't buying it

Xander frowned but before he could answer, Cassie beat him to it.

"He isn't a pervert, if that's what you're implying." Cassie defended her new friends. "They work for Summerlande Academy. It's an all girls school." She explained.

Daniel already knew this from interviewing them about what happened in the café. "They don't just work there, Cassie. They _own_ it. At least partially."

Cassie rolled her eyes. "I know that, Daniel. They told me. But that isn't the best part. They offered me a job, isn't that great?"

Sam blinked. "A job? Cassie, you don't even know them!"

"Sure I do." Cassie dismissed Sam's concern. "I got to know them better last night over pizza and soda. I'm not a kid, Sam. I _do _know how to socialize with those outside my peer group." She rolled her eyes again. When was Sam going to realize she wasn't a kid anymore? "Besides, Xander's your brother so he's technically family and since he and Buffy are dating, so is she." She had learned a lot during their little pizza party.

"Did he tell you that?" Sam asked in a low voice. She didn't like this, not one bit.

Cassie didn't bother answering her because she did _not_ have to explain herself. "So did you do background checks on them yet?" She countered with a question of her own.

"Cassie." Daniel gently chided his _niece_. "Sam was really worried about you."

"Yeah, right. And I'm the Pope." Cassie shot back and wrapped her arms around her stuffed giraffe.

Buffy smirked. "You _so _have to meet Dawn. It's spooky how much alike you two are."

Cassie took the compliment in stride. "So you still wanna use the computer?" She then turned to Sam. "They need to use your computer. Theirs is back in England."

Sam frowned. "Where'd you get the stuffed animal?"

"We bought it for her at the Zoo. She offered to play tour guide today." Xander replied. "I still can't believe she had never been there before. We take Dawn to the London Zoo every year during spring break. We have to rework our schedules but family is more important than work, right?" It sounded like a jibe and it was meant to be one. How could they just ignore the poor girl when they claimed to be her family? If this was how Samantha treated family, then maybe he _really _didn't want to be her brother.

"You said something about a computer?" Buffy had discovered the disk Oz slipped her and she wanted to know what was on it. She was kicking herself for not bringing at least one laptop with them. Then again, she hadn't been expecting to work on this trip.

"Yeah, this way." Cassie stepped around Sam and Daniel and lead the other two up and into the house. "Just ignore them, their prudes sometimes." Her voice carried out of the house just before the door slammed.

"Cassie didn't seem reserved." Daniel pointed out as he stared at the house. "Maybe having Xander and Buffy around would be good for Cassie. They are closer to her age than we are. Plus she seems quite fond of them but maybe that's because they saved her life?"

"They took her to the Zoo." Sam whispered, not hearing a word Daniel said. "Complete strangers took her to the Zoo when I couldn't even find time to." She then headed up the walk and into the house, leaving Daniel outside.

Daniel watched his friend walk into the house. "For their sake, I hope Xander is Sam's brother." He told himself. "Because they obviously need help when it comes to family." He then followed Sam's path and entered the house, closing the door behind him. They may have not known much about either Xander Harris or Buffy Summers, the files they had been given had been mostly blacked out except for a few scattered paragraphs, but Cassie usually had good sense when it came to picking her friends so they couldn't be bad guys, could they?


	15. Chapter 15

Xander and Buffy followed Cassie through the house, after discarding their coats in the living room, and into the computer room. Both were impressed with all the gadgets that were scattered around the room. It almost reminded them of Willow's lab.

"Sam always buys me something computer related for Christmas." Cassie frowned as she began to pick up some of the items and, unceremoniously, dump them on various selves that lined the walls of the room. "I'm not even really into computers." She explained.

"Wil would be salivating and purposing marriage if she saw this room." Buffy said as she sat down in front of the computer desk, pulled the disk out of her jean pocket, and popped it into the computer. "Could you give us a minute, Cassie?"

Cassie nodded. "Sure. Just yell when you're done." She then left the room and headed towards the voices coming from the kitchen. "Done planning their demises yet?" She snipped as she joined her _family_.

"What do we got?" Xander asked once Cassie had left. He leaned over Buffy's shoulder to get a better look at the computer screen. "Oz slipped you this?"

Buffy nodded as skimmed over the information displayed on the screen. "I'd bet my best Prada handbag that this is why Giles is too busy to take my calls." She gritted her teeth, trying to keep her temper in check. "Son of a bitch!"

Xander winced and for the first time in his life didn't feel sorry for the Watcher. He deserved, not only Buffy's anger, but his as well. "I thought he was suppose to consult us on matters that concern us?"

"He is!" Buffy ripped the disk out of the computer, snapped it in half, and shoved the two halves back into her pocket. "At least we know why Oz is here and that _he_ hasn't been corrupted."

"Was there any doubt?" Xander questioned. "Oz has always been loyal to the _us_, Buff. Remember the incident in Manila? He came to us first then reported it to Giles. He might work for the Council but he's still a Scoobie." He defended Willow's ex-boyfriend.

Buffy took a deep breath. "I just had to be sure, you know?" She sat back in the soft, leather, computer chair and stared at the, now, blank screen. "He's playing with our lives and I don't like that. I know our MI5 files are the ones given out, and the least likely to contain anything of relevance, but still...he shouldn't have done this behind our backs." She complained.

Xander rested his hand on her shoulder. "I agree with you. When we get home, I suggest we corner him and make his squeal!"

Meanwhile Cassie was staring at the kitchen counter, not wanting to talk about her new friends. She only looked up when Sam returned to the kitchen carrying two wallets, obviously taken from the discarded coats in the living room. "Thinking of becoming a thief, are you?" She frowned.

Sam fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I'll put them back when I'm done." She tossed one of the wallets to Daniel and began to go through the one she kept. "I just want to know they are who they say they are." She defended her actions. "I got two drivers licences, one issued in Cleveland and one in Great Britain, a credit card issued to Summerlande Academy, and this." She held up a all white card, no larger than a credit card, that had a picture, a barcode, and a saying printed on its smooth surface. "What about you?"

Daniel looked through the wallet Sam had flung at him. "Same thing." He pulled the strange card out and eyed it. "Frat justicia, ruat caelum." Tilting his head to the side, he began to, mentally, translate the Latin words. "It's means; Let justice be done, though the heavens should fall. Odd saying for a school ID card."

"That's because it isn't an ID card for Summerlande." Buffy stated as she stepped into the kitchen. "Find anything in our things of interest?" She peaked into the wallet Sam was holding. "Ew, how old is that condom, Xander?" Plucking the object in question out, she waved the battered, crumpled, packet in front of his face.

"Hey!" Xander snatched the object floating in front of his face and glared at Buffy. "I'll have you know that I've had this since Freshman year. Mom gave me school supplies while Dad gave me a rubber, said I'd get more use outta it instead of the pencils." He frowned. "Sadly I got no use outta either of them."

Buffy made a face. "That only confirms that Tony was a pig. As if I didn't already know that from when he _hit_ on me at your wedding."

Xander crammed the small, square, packet into his pocket. "I think it was his _first_ and _last_ attempt at father-son bonding." He shrugged and looked at Sam. "You done with that or you wanna swipe my money too?"

Buffy turned her gaze to Daniel who had her wallet. She raised an eyebrow and smirked when he blushed at being caught looking through her things. "Anything interesting in there?"

Still blushing, Daniel placed the card back into it's slot and handed the wallet to Buffy. "If it's not an ID card to your school then what's it to?" He questioned.

Cassie frowned. "Who cares? They aren't criminals for the love of the Gods!" She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "So stop treating them as such!" A glared was sent to both Sam and Daniel.

"Don't you find it the least bit odd that the man claiming to be my brother just happens to save you? And instead of taking you to a hospital, they take you to a hotel room where _they_ care for you?" Sam couldn't believe Cassie was this naive. She sighed in defeat when Cassie continued to glare at her. "At least let me look at your wound, please? You might need stitches."

Reaching up, Cassie pulled the band-aid off her neck and tossed it into the garbage can. She then tilted her head to the side so Sam could get a better look.

Daniel moved around the table to look too. "It looks like..." He jerked his head up to look at Buffy and Xander. "You're kidding right?"

"What can I say, the boy had sharp canines." Buffy dismissed with a wave of her hand. "Probably belonged to one of those cults that worship creatures of the night. They file their teeth into points, drink blood, and dress like they're stuck in the eighties. You'd be surprised at how many there are out there."

Sam examined the two, little, puncture wounds on the side of Cassie's neck. "Vampire cult?" It sounded believable enough. After all, how many people did they rescue from the cult of Seth all those years ago? "You run into these people often?" She inquired, satisfied that Cassie was, indeed, alright.

"There was a lot of _their_ kind in Sunnydale. It was like they were drawn there by some...mythical force." Xander explained as he grabbed his wallet out of Sam's hands and tucked it into his back pocket. "Right Buffy?"

Buffy nodded. "Yup, Sunnyhell was full of gang members on PCP and crazies that believed they were vampires." She shook her head at how unbelievable that explanation sounded but it always seemed to work. People _were_ dumber than they looked, most of the time.

"Did your high school really blow up?" Sam asked after silence descended on the small group.

Xander nodded. "I don't think any of the survivors of 99' will ever forget what happened that day." He shook his head at all the death and carnage that day brought. Instead of it being the happiest day of their lives it became the scariest. "A lot of our schoolmates lost their lives on that day. Lucky for us, our parents didn't attend."

"Oh? Why's that?" Daniel asked finding it odd that none of their parents would want to be there on the day their kids graduated. The very day so much death and destruction happened. Did they know the massacre was going to happen before hand?

"Mom and Dawn went to visit our Aunt. Xander's parents were in Sacramento visiting friends, Cordelia's parents were, and still are, hiding from the IRS, Oz's folks left Sunnydale the year before to travel, and Willow's parental units were both out of the country lecturing." Buffy ticked off on her fingers. "Our graduating wasn't a big deal. It wasn't like any of us were getting awards or anything." She hurried to explain. "We weren't apart of the popular crowd, well except for Cordy, and most of us weren't very smart except for Willow and Oz who were wicked smart but they both passed on being Valedictorian, too busy."

Sam nodded feeling sad all of a sudden. It sounded like Buffy and Xander didn't really get to be kids. As a matter of fact, it sounded like they lived in hell and had to fight to survive. She may have been an Air Force brat but she had a good home life, even after her mom was killed.

Glancing around the kitchen, Xander's eyes landed on a picture hanging on the wall by the door. "I know her." He walked over to the picture and was aware that Buffy followed him. "Who is this?" He questioned without looking away.

Cassie jumped at the chance to be included in the conversation again. "That's Sam's mom, Marie." She moved to stand beside them. "How could you know her? She died right after having you."

Xander frowned. "I don't know _know_ her. I've seen her picture before. _This_ picture, as a matter of fact, from the shoulders up. Where was this taken, do you know?" He asked Cassie.

"That was taken the summer before she died. For vacation mom wanted to take us to England and show us where she grew up." Sam explained as she also joined them in looking at the picture. Dad took the picture in front of an old building that mom seemed especially fond of. Never did find out why."

"So that's you." Cassie pointed to Marie's slightly rounded stomach. "Strange, I never noticed that before. I guess I never really looked at this picture."

Buffy's eyes widened as she suddenly realized where she, too, had seen the picture. "The memorial." She mumbled. "The new one that Giles had erected to honor the fallen." Turning, she faced Sam. "The car accident that killed her, was she alone? Did anybody else die?"

Sam focused on the younger girl. "The cab driver was hurt, badly, I think he's in a wheelchair. Mom and one of her students were killed."

"Students?" Xander shook his head. "She was a teacher?" This was weird, even by there standards.

"Professor of History, actually." Sam explained. "We moved around a bit because of Dad being in the Air Force but mom always stayed in New York during the school year. Then she'd join us, wherever, in the summer. I think the girls name was...Isabella. She was Italian and mom was her mentor."

All of this was beginning to sound very familiar to Buffy. "SW Erickson." She finally remembered the name and title that went with the face. "I think your mother was a Watcher, Xander." She announced in shock.


	16. Chapter 16

The silence that greeted Buffy's announcement was deafening. Xander was looking at her with something akin to horror. While the other three had nothing but confusion shining in their eyes. She felt bad for her friend since she had first had experience with the old council and their meddling ways.

"What exactly is a _Watcher_ and why do you two look horrified at the thought?" Daniel asked, the first to break the stretching silence.

Xander shook his head and took a deep breath. "What a Watcher is, is not your concern.." He answered, after regaining his wits. "You think Giles knew?" It was the only question bouncing around in his head at the moment.

Buffy clenched her teeth. For her Watchers sake, she hoped he didn't know anything about this. "I don't know but anything is possible." She answered him, honestly. Ten years ago, she wouldn't have hesitated in saying no and defending her surrogate father. But too much had happened between then and now.

"Not our concern?" Sam asked, dubiously. "How is it not our concern? She was _my_ mother." She pointed out. "I have the _right_ to know."

"You might have the _right_ but you sure in the hell don't have the clearance level." Xander told her without looking at her. His eyes were focused, solely, on the picture. "Are you certain Isabella died?" He asked, suddenly, as something occurred to him.

Sam frowned at the suddenly change in topic. "Well, I didn't see a body if that's what you're asking. I remember Dad saying that he inquired about the girl and the Doctor told him that she had died at the scene. But it's obvious that the Doctor lied before so...I guess it's possible that she survived. What would he gain by lying about her?"

"Isabella didn't die, at least not then." Buffy clarified as some of her studies into Slayer history came back to her. "She died two years later in Moscow." There wasn't much information associated with Isabella Rossi. But one fact Buffy did remember was that she was the only other Slayer, besides herself, to have had two _successful_ Watchers.

Xander searched his own memory for any reference to a Slayer named Isabella. But his studies were based more on the Watchers than their charges. "Ambrose Flynn's girl, right?" He recalled after several moments of thought.

Buffy nodded once, abruptly. "Yeah, Flynn's girl." She couldn't keep the distaste for the man out of her voice. She had met him once, only once, and she never wanted to have the privilege again.

Daniel tilted his head to the side and furrowed his brow. "Ambrose Flynn?" He'd heard that name before but where? "Him and Isabella were a couple?" It was only logical to assume they were since they were referring to Isabella as Ambrose's girl.

"He was a Professor at Oxford up until early nineteen ninety-eight." Xander explained, having more information on Flynn than Buffy had. "He taught early European History. That's where he met Isabella. Her mother was also a History Professor and frequently brought the girl with her." He made a face. "They weren't dating. That'd be gross. He was more like a mentor to her or even a surrogate father. He writes, in his journals, of his surprise when her studies were passed off to Erickson, a Brit that moved to the States as a teenager. He'd always assumed that he'd teach her."

"Whoa, back up." Sam was confused ,extremely confused, something she wasn't used to. "So mom became the girls mentor instead of this Flynn fellow? But in the end he got Isabella back, right? You just said he watched her for two years until she died in Moscow. Sounds like he was more of a stalker than a teacher."

"Ambrose is not a nice man." Buffy glared at Xander when he opened his mouth to defend his fellow Watcher. "Don't try to deny it, Xand! The man gives everybody a total case of the wigs when he's around. Simply put, he's a creep. He obsessed over Isabella for years after she moved to the States. He petitioned every court imaginable for guardianship, _sixteen_ times, after her mother was _conveniently_, killed in an auto accident just six months after Isabella _escaped_ from him. He got her killed in Moscow and everybody knows it!"

Xander's lips flattened into a straight line. This had been a debate between Potential Slayers and Watchers for years. "Everybody doesn't know it." He defended. "It was an accident, nothing more. You do remember all the miscalculations Giles has done, don't you? How about all the injuries you've sustained over the years because he was too busy being a wanker instead of watching out for your well-being? Ambrose made a mistake, a dire one, but a mistake nonetheless."

Buffy sighed. This was not the place to be having this argument. "All I'm saying is that the man can't be trusted. He was unstable back then and even more unstable now. Isn't it possible that he wanted Isabella so badly back then that he _made_ it happen? Is it just a coincidence that he became her _mentor_ after _your_ mother died? Travers was known for cleaning up messes as quickly and as quietly as possible."

"I know." Xander deflated slightly, this family was more complicated than his last. "What do we do now?"

"Now? Now we return home and get the answers we want." Buffy told him.

Sam eyed the pair. "If you're going to get answers on Mom, I'm coming with you." Her voice left no room for argument.

Cassie blinked. "Didn't they just tell you that whatever your mom did, it was classified?" It was obvious to her so why was Sam being so hardheaded about it?

Buffy smiled at Cassie. "I know I said you had all the time in the world to decide about the job offer but since we're heading home..." She trailed off. "You'd be an asset to us. The girls would related to you. It's hard finding people the girls will trust and actually talk to. You could come with us, check things out, then decide."

"I've known Sam for years, she's not going to let this go." Daniel said, quietly. "And it _is_ her mother. If her job was classified, work around it. I'm sure it can be done." He was always the voice of reason.

Xander sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know how many forms and requests would have to be filled out to bring her with us?" He sighed again seeing the determined look on Sam's face. A look that he was sure he had worn a time or two. "I was beginning to wonder if we really were siblings." He mumbled. "Alright Buff, call Willow and make the arrangements."

Nodding, Buffy took her phone out of her pants pocket and started out of the kitchen only to be stopped by Daniel. "Let me guess, you wanna come too?" At his nod, she rolled her eyes and stepped into the living room to make her call.

"You don't have to do this, Daniel." Sam told her friend.

Daniel shrugged and gave her a sheepish look. "I'm an archeologist and you know how much I just _love_ a good mystery. Besides, I'm your friend and you'll need _someone_ to keep an eye on Cassie while you're getting to know Xander."

"As if." Cassie rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "He won't be able to follow me into the school, will he? That's be embarrassing."

"No, only authorized persons are allowed in Summerlande Academy. Buff's probably making arrangements for you now since she's talking to Willow." Xander told her with a smile. It felt good to be going home. He had to admit that he missed it. "I'm sure both the adults can amuse themselves while we're showing you what Summerlande has to offer." He focused on Sam. "I'm warning you now, you won't get to see everything relating to your mom. Her job _was _classified. It's a national secret, if you'd like. There are only a select few that has access to the records and documents relating to her." His voice was serious.

Buffy returned a short time later, pulling on her coat. She tossed Xander his. "We have a flight out at five so we need to head back to the hotel and get things packed." She focused on the other three. "Pack light but pack enough for several days. We'll meet you at the airport in..." She glanced at her watch seeing that it was already after three. "An hour." With that she pulled Xander, who was struggling with his coat, out of the house. She'd taken the liberty to call Morris after she finished with Willow.


	17. Chapter 17

"You said once we landed, you'd explain why we had to make a stop in Cleveland." Daniel was just trying to understand the situation and thus far wasn't succeeding. He walked in silence for several steps before he voiced a question that was floating around in his very brilliant mind. "Why couldn't the cabs drop us off in front of the school?" It was a logical question since they had been walking for two or three blocks now and hadn't seen another soul during the trip. Actually, it was kinda creepy.

Xander rolled his eyes. Daniel was as bad as Dawn when it came to knowing and understanding. "Well, we had to make a stop here because we're picking someone up. And the cabs couldn't drop us off closer because only authorized vehicles are allowed near the school." He held up a hand to forestall the question he knew Daniel was going to ask. "It might sound weird but it keeps the nuts away and the girls safe. And the girls safety comes before all else." His tone of voice left no room for doubt of his words.

"You get a lot of nuts hanging around here?" Sam asked, curious. "Is it because it's an all girls school? I bet it makes it a magnet for all kind of freaks and weirdos."

Buffy lead the group down the empty, quiet, street and around a bend before stopping in front of an impressively large metal gate; on either side of the gate was equally large metal fence that stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. "It's mostly because of the _types_ of girls we educate here. More than half the schools population is made up of runaways and abusetees. Usually we go out and recruit a student but most of them just find their way here without any guidance so it's up to us to protect them. When they enroll at Summerlande Academy, they become our wards. Most of the families don't heed the courts warnings and try to forcibly remove their daughters once they find out where they are. Sometimes they even hire people to do the job for them, thus the nuts." Buffy explained as she pulled out her wallet, extracted the mysterious access card and swiped it at a small box attached to the gate. Once she heard the gate buzz, she put the card back into her wallet, put the wallet back into her pocket, and pushed the gate open enough for them to enter. "Make sure it locks, Xand! Wil said it's been sticking!" She called over her shoulder as she lead the group up a large, stretching, pathway.

"Wow!" Cassie exclaimed as she took in the area. Green grass and colorful flowerbeds stretched as far as the eye could see. Squinting, she could make out a playground in the distance but no buildings. How big was this place? "So if no unauthorized cars are allowed near the school, how do the people get to their homes?" Each house they had passed looked well kept and lived in, none looked abandoned or empty.

After checking the gate, Xander caught up with the group in time to hear Cassie's question. "Since Summerlande is part of a larger corporation, the state made some allowances for us. All those houses we passed belong to us. Not all the girls want to stay on campus so the older ones are allotted an off campus residence. They're just as safe in the houses as they would be in one of the dorms on campus. Plus most of the staff reside off campus."

Daniel blinked at the explanation. "A larger corporation?" That was strange, he thought Summerlande was owned by the group of friends, or that's how Sam explained it. His question never received an answer because at that moment a high pitched squeal caught his attention and he wasn't alone. "What is that?" He leaned over and asked Sam as his eyes searched the vast area of green and stone in front of him.

"_That_ would be the welcoming committee." Buffy, having Slayer hearing, answer Daniel's quiet inquiry with a huge smile on her face. "Stay here." She jogged ahead and up a small hill off to the right of the walkway, reaching the top just in time to catch a small, blonde haired little boy. "Hiya kido!" She swung him into the air before settling him onto her hip.

"Mommy Buffy! Mommy Buffy!" The little boy squealed in absolute delight as she wrapped his little arms around her neck and hugged her, tightly.

Xander left the group and joined the two on the hill, wrapping them both in a bear hug. When the boy started to giggle, he released his grasp. "I feel _so_ left out. You love _Mommy_ Buffy more than your very cool _Uncle_ Xander." He said as he ruffled the boys hair knowing he hated it. "Have you been good for your Mama, Jethro?"

Four year old Jethro nodded his head. "Yes, Sir." He answered, seriously, then started to giggle again at his silly Uncle. He stopped abruptly when he caught sight of the three strangers. Tilting his head to the side, he observed them. "Who's dat?" He pointed at Sam, Daniel, and Cassie.

Buffy placed a kiss on his soft, flawless, cheek. "Those are friends of ours, Jethro, can you say hi?" She couldn't help but feel motherly towards the little spitfire in her arms.

"Hi!" Jethro automatically did as he was told. "I'm Jethro and I'm four years old!" He held up four fingers then motioned to be put down. "Mama's coming!" He raced over the top of the hill and down the other side only to appear a few seconds later, his _Mama_ in tow.

"I thought I heard the Jethro alarm." Willow Rosenberg said as she crested the hill, being pulled by her wayward _son_. "I swear he's like psychic or something because we were in the house having lunch and he just popped up and darted out the door without a word!" Her eyes were wide, face flushed, and her red hair had taken on a windblown look from chasing after him. "I was about to call the guard when I heard him squeal, then I knew what had him running like his pants were on fire."

Jethro furrowed his brow. "My pants no on fire!" He insisted then looked over his shoulder and down at his bum just to make sure. "Mommy Buffy and Uncle Xander are here!" He squealed again just in case his Mama hadn't seen them standing _right_ in front of her.

Willow cleared his throat and ran a hand, affectionately, over the top if his blonde hair. "I can see that, baby." She gave her two best friends a small smile. "He's very happy to see you and so am I." First she pulled Xander into a hug then Buffy. It felt good to have the group back together, even if it was just for a short time. "So who's your friends?" She inquired after she released Buffy from their embrace.

Sheepishly, Xander motioned for the other three to join them atop the little hill. "Willow, I'd like you to meet Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, and Cassandra Fraiser." He introduced. "Samantha is, kinda, my sister." He knew his friend wasn't going to be happy about being kept out of the loop but there was nothing he could do about that now. What's done is done.

Silence settled over the group as Willow's eyes grew wide again. She looked from Xander to Samantha to Buffy then back to Xander. "Excuse me? I don't think I heard you right. Did you just say you have a sister that I know nothing about? That I'm just finding out about right now?"

"Uh-oh, Uncle Xander's in trouble." Jethro whispered as he joined his Mommy off to the side. He knew the tone of voice his Mama was using, _well_.

Grimacing, Buffy knew the boy was right. "Wil, take a deep breath and let it out. Killing Xander will solve _nothing_. We would have told you, sooner, but we weren't even sure. I mean...it was somewhat of a shock." She tried to defend her Xander shaped boyfriend.

Willow tilted her head to the side and did as Buffy said. Nodding, she got her raging emotions under control. "Killing Xander bad, got it." She smiled again, the tense moment had passed. "I get that she is _kinda_ his sister but what are they doing here?" Her brow furrowed for a moment. "Oh! Cassandra is Cassie right? The girl you wanna hire?" She eyed the girl with a critical eye then nodded. "Good choice." Was all she said. "Come on, I bet you all are hungry. Airplane food stinks." She made a face and took the lead from Buffy.

Xander breathed a sigh of relief. At least he still had all his body parts. "Come on, Jetplane, let's go get lunch." He hoisted the boy up and onto his shoulders. "Hang on, the Xander express is a go for launch!" He then took off running, his laughter and Jethro's giggles echoed across the campus.

As the group started to move in the direction Xander had taken off in, Sam maneuvered herself until she was walking beside Buffy. "So Jethro is your son?" She asked as nonchalantly as she could.

Buffy continued to walk, for several minutes, as if she hadn't heard the question. "Jethro isn't mine in the sense that I didn't give birth to him."

Sam nodded. "So he belongs to, uh, Willow was it?" It was a logical assumption since the boy called the red head Mama.

"Nope, he isn't Willow's either." Buffy looked down at her feet as unwelcome memories crept into her mind. "Jethro is a special little boy but sadly he isn't alone." She slowed to let the group get ahead of them. "His mother, Serena, was one of our first students. Very bright girl, very talented too. Wil and I were with her in the hospital when Jethro was born. She died a few minutes later from wounds received during a...mugging. Amsterdam was suppose to be safe." She whispered then cleared her throat to get rid of the emotional lump that had formed there. "The nurses took one look at Wil and me and just..._assumed_. So we're listed on his birth certificate as his parents. He knows the story about his birth and who his mother _really _was but since he was very small, we've been his parents. It could have easily been me and Xander or Xander and Willow. It just so happened to be us."

"You said he wasn't alone." Sam prodded wanting to know the whole story. After all, these people were her brothers family. She wanted to get to know them.

Buffy nodded. "Jethro is one of ten children born to our girls. And sadly he's one of five that lost their mothers at birth." By this time they were passing the elaborate playground. "Since the mothers were our wards the children become ours as well. Jethro was just lucky to have us there to claim him. The other children weren't so lucky. But they're all treated the same. Though the others don't use the _M_ or _D_ word to refer to us."

Sam was surprised to here this. "Is that why you have a playground?" She had been wondering.

"Mostly it's for the children but some of our girls are young and who are we to make them grow up before they're ready?" Buffy was being honest

"And their fathers? Where are they?" Sam was very interested in this little tight knit community.

Buffy shrugged. "Some we don't know who they're fathers are and the others...like I said before, some of our girls are runaways and have been abused. Some of the children are result of that abuse." She was quiet for a moment. "Jethro's father gave up his parental rights to Wil and me. He's a good man and knew his son would be better taken care of here where he'd have a stable home life. I think he's in Brazil right now or maybe the Bahamas, I'm not really sure."

Sam frowned. "Why would he do that? _How_ could he do that?" If she had a child there would be no way in hell that she'd willingly give it up.

"Franklin was twenty years Serena's senior. He was also her mentor, like your mother was Isabella's. But they fell in love, not an uncommon occurrence, and Jethro was the result. He did the right thing giving him up. Franklin moves around _a lot_ and the boy would suffer. And he knew this. Jethro is better off here." And that was the end of the subject. So caught up in the conversation, Buffy didn't even notice that the others had already entered the large, stone, house looming in front of them. "We better hurry before Xander eats down everything before we get there." She entered leaving Sam outside.

"This place is just...strange." Sam mumbled as she followed Buffy inside. The inside was rich, warm, and cozy. She took her time, looking at the art work that lined the small hall leading into the kitchen. As she stepped into the kitchen, a plate was thrust into her hands that contained a sandwich and what looked to be potato salad. Blinking, she looked around and moved towards the table housing Daniel, Cassie, and a girl she didn't know. Sitting down, she took a bite and was surprised to find that it was delicious, for a sandwich.

"I'm Kennedy." The previously unknown girl introduced herself to the blonde that just sat down. "So are you really Xander's sister?"

Rolling his eyes, Xander turned back around in his seat to face his own tablemates. "You obviously wanted our _guests_ to suffer since you sat them with Kennedy." He told Willow who was seated to his left with Jethro beside her and Buffy was sitting to his right talking to Carson, the fencing instructor who had joined them for lunch. "Did you and Sam have a nice talk?" He asked wanting the conversation to end between his girlfriend and the blonde haired, blue eyed, athletically built instructor.

Buffy nodded and took a large bite of her sandwich. "Mm, heavenly, Wil." She complimented her friends cooking skills or rather sandwich making skills; none of the Scoobies could really cook that's why all the campus' had a twenty-four seven cooking staff. "Yeah, I think we had a moment."

Xander took a bite of his own sandwich. "A moment? Like what kind of a moment? A talking about Xander moment or...?" He trailed off leaving it open for her to insert what they were talking about.

After finishing with Jethro, Willow turned and smacked Xander on the back of the head, causing her son to giggle. "Just because Kennedy and I aren't together anymore doesn't mean you can insult her like that!" She pointed out. "She was once the love of my life, remember?"

Holding up his hands, Xander surrendered. "Never did understand that." He shrunk, slightly, at her glare. "Sorry, geesh!"

"What we talked about is none of your concern." Buffy patted Xander's leg. "My cute little butt monkey." She smirked and returned to her conversation with Carson, the cutie instructor.

Xander almost spit out the sip of water he had just taken and instead choked on it. "You didn't! Wait, you couldn't! No way you could have told her _that_ story." He lowered his voice. "It involved Dracula, after all." He said smugly, secure in the knowledge that any embarrassing moment in his life couldn't be told to anyone outside their group without proper authorization. Sometimes it was a good thing he worked for a top secret organization or his social life would be shot to hell.

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**Authors Note**

Gotta say that my muse did not want to give me this chapter. I had to fight him tooth and nail to get it out. I hope it was worth the wait.

Anyways, I decided that there will be only twenty chapters to this story so look for it to be finishing up in three chapters.

Also I want to mention that I have a forum for this story. Follow the link below to go there.

it's listed under Buffy x-overs in the forum section.


	18. Chapter 18

After lunch ended, Buffy, Xander, and Willow disappeared into the heart of the school with a wide eyed Cassie in tow. This left Sam and Daniel under the watchful eye of the none to happy Kennedy.

"What do I look like, a nanny?" Kennedy grumbled, once she was alone with her charges, as she paced the length of the spacious kitchen. "Screw this!" She stopped her latest pace by the door and stalked out of the kitchen, making sure the door locked behind her. So caught up in her bad mood, she forgot to take Jethro with her, thus locking him in with the two strangers.

Daniel and Sam shared a look then focused on the little boy coloring, quietly, at the table across from theirs. "You wouldn't happen to have a key, would you?" Sam asked.

Jethro looked up from his task and tilted his head to the side. "Nope!" He answered, cheerfully, then resumed his coloring. "Only Fessors have keys." He added a short time later without pause.

"Only the Professors have keys?" Daniel asked the boy to make sure he had heard him correctly. "Does Buffy and Xander have keys?"

"Uh-huh." Jethro nodded his head. "I told you all the Fessors have keys." Wasn't the man listening to him or was he just stupid?

"I think what Daniel is trying to ask is, does Buffy and Xander teach here too?" Sam figured the boy was smart enough to understand and answer the question honestly. Children were notorious for their honestly, after all.

Jethro, slowly, laid his crayon down and focused on the two strangers. "Are you really Uncle Xander's sister?" He asked, innocently.

Caught off guard, Sam nodded. "I believe so. He hasn't given me any reason to doubt his claim." She was silent, trying to gather her thoughts. "How long have you known him?" It was an odd question considering the boys age.

Liking this question, Jethro smiled showing off his perfectly straight, white, teeth. "My _whole_ life. He's my Godfather and always takes me to the zoo on my birthday but we never see the hyena's because they're bad _bad _animals." He babbled, happily.

Daniel couldn't believe what he had just observed. He was reasonably sure that the boy had purposefully changed the subject _without_ Sam noticing. "Have you ever been to London, Jethro?" He asked, trying to get back onto the previous subject of Buffy and Xander.

Jethro didn't even blink when the conversation was steered back towards the adults. "I was born there."He admitted in a whisper like it was a secret. "I travel with mommy_ a lot_. We go _all_ over the world. Have you ever been to Mousecow? It was _really_ cold there." He wrapped his arms around his little body to demonstrate. "We got to wear really fuzzy hats. Mine was black and mommy's was white." He made a face. "The scary man said mommy looked a snow angel. I asked Kennedy why he would say that and she told me it was because he wanted to get into mommy's pants. What does that mean?" He tilted his head to the side and waited, patiently, for the answer.

"You mean Moscow? You've been to Russia?" This surprised Sam since not many American's were welcome in the usually hostile country. She ignored his question concerning his mothers pants. "Did you have a good time while you were there?"

"Yup, except I didn't like the scary guy! He gave me the wiggins." Jethro frowned. "I like our head guy better, he isn't scary. He gives me candy and when we visit him at his big circle office, he sends one of his men-in-black to McDonalds!" He babbled, a trait he picked up from his Mama. "He even let me sit in his chair once, it was so cool! Mommy said that I looked exactly like the Pre...Pres...Presdent!"

"Scary guy? Head guy? Presdent?" Daniel's thoughts came to a screeching halt. "You mean President? You've met the Russian President?" He didn't know what to say. Even after all the times he had dealt with Russia, he had yet to meet the countries President. The man was more elusive than Big Foot, and that was saying something since there were pictures of the hairy ape man.

Before he could answer, the outside door banged open and soon they were joined by another. "Faith!" Jethro jumped down off his chair and threw himself at the leather clad woman.

"Hey, Ro." Faith reached down and scooped the boy up into her arms. "How you been, small fry?"

Jethro wrapped his arms around her neck and gave her a big, wet, kiss. "Five by Five!" He giggled as he used her infamous catch phrase. "Missed you." He snuggled his face into her neck and breathed in her comforting scent of leather and smoke.

Faith couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips. "I missed you too, kid." She took a moment to bask in the feel of his small body in his arms. Man, she loved this kid. "So who are your friends?" She asked once the moment had passed.

"Not _my _friends, Faith. They came with mommy and Xander." Jethro turned slightly in the strong arms holding him and pointed to Sam. "She's Xander's sister."

"X-Man has a sister?" Faith eyed Daniel and then let her eyes rest on Sam. "You here for a family reunion? Or did you just find out he's loaded?"

Sam frowned at the tone and implication. "Buffy and Xander found me. And no, we already had a reunion of sorts. We're here because...well...I'm not really sure why we're here. They just told us that we had to stop here and pick someone up before heading to London."

Faith nodded, once, briskly. "That someone is me. Though B didn't tell me _why_." She shrugged. "B's like that. Hell of a leader but not much of a sharer." She refocused on the boy in her arms. "Oliver's here, why don't you run along and say hello?"

Jethro's eyes lit up. "Really?" A large smile threatened to overtake his face. "Cool!" He wiggled out of her arms and ran to the kitchen door. He placed his thumb against a panel beside the door knob and raced from the room when the door clicked open. Once he had cleared the doorway, it clicked closed, relocking.

"That kid has enough energy to run the entire state of California and half of Oregon." Faith chuckled, huskily. "So, X-man has a sister? How'd that happen?" She wasn't good at small talk so she left the question open as she pulled out a chair, turned it around, straddled it, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. Slamming the pack against her hand, she removed on, placed it to her lips, and lit it.

"That's what we're going to London to find out." Sam told her, eyes still glued to the locked door that Jethro had just exited through. "He told us that he didn't have a key." She mused, aloud.

Faith snickered. "Jethro is wicked smart and honest, just like his moms. So he didn't lie when he said he didn't have a key, because he doesn't. Only the Professors have override access keys. All the doors open with a thumb print reader. It's added security to protect the girls. If an unauthorized person tries to open a door, the school goes into lockdown and the on campus security guards are alerted. They call the police and the intruder is removed from the grounds before they reach their targeted girl."

Daniel blinked. "Do you teach here?" From what he had heard thus far, Summerlande went all out to protect it's students. It had to be the safest school in North America, if not the world.

"Sometimes." Faith shrugged out of her leather jacket and tossed it onto the table. "I run Summerlande Africa but like B and X-Man, I'm not exclusive to that particular branch of the school. Variety is the spice of life, I always say. I'm Faith by the way. Who the hell are you?" She finished her cigarette and snuffed it out on her combat boot before tossing it into the nearby, metal, garbage can.

Sam shared a look with Daniel and nodded her head slightly. "I'm Colonel Samantha Carter, United States Air Force. And this is Doctor Daniel Jackson, consultant with the USAF." She caught the other womans eyes and held them. But no matter how strong willed she was, she was the first to look away. There was something in Faith's eyes that screamed danger. The exact same thing she had seen in Buffy's eyes.

Clearing his throat, Daniel tried to break the rising tension. "Who's Oliver?" He asked once the stare at been broken. "Is that a pet?"

Faith chuckled. "Some people probably think of them as pets. But I like to think of mine as a kid. _My_ kid, actually."

"You brought your kid along?" Sam asked before she could censor her words.

"Well, yeah." Faith refused to add _duh!_. "What was I suppose to do, put him in a kenal? They frown upon that sort of thing no matter _what_ country you're in."

"Couldn't you have left him at home with his father?" Daniel asked. The whole uncensored thing must have been contagious.

Faith's eyes grew hard and all mirth left her. "Oliver's father was killed by a rogue organization within the United States Government called the NID. He was tortured, beaten, and in the end, killed right in front of me. His body was, later, discovered in an abandoned warehouse just outside D.C. Oliver was born six months later. I didn't even know I was pregnant at the time of Robin's death. He died never knowing he was going to be a father. So that's why I couldn't leave him at home with his father. Red'll watch him until we get back." Silence followed her statement and that's how Buffy found them an hour later.

* * *

**Authors Note**

* * *

Gotta tell you that my muse just isn't cooperating these days. I've been trying to write this chapter for _weeks_ and I kept getting nothing. A big zip. Nata. Less than nothing. But finally, _finally_, I managed to pry this pathetic chapter out of his lazy ass. 

Smacks muse with a dead fish

Because of my muses' laziness and lack of inspiration, this story might turn out slightly longer than twenty chapters, like I first wanted. Maybe twenty-two or at most twenty-four.

Anyways, I need some help, regardless. I need idea's for the next couple chapters. Just something to get my muse off the couch and back to work. The idea I pick will be credited to whoever gives it to me. I'm desperate here. Gets down on knees and begs

Couple more questions:

Should Sam and Daniel find out about Buffy and Xander's life? Or should they be kept in the dark? If they find out, how should it be? Should they stumble upon it? Should they be told by the Scoobies or someone else? Like the President or Landry or O'Neill?

Should the Scoobies find out about Sam and Daniel's life? Or should they be kept in the dark? Maybe they don't want to know? Should they stumble upon it? Or should Giles tell them since he knows about the Stargate?

Is Giles really following in the footsteps of the old Council or is he trying to protect his surrogate children from truths he feels they can't handle or will destroy them?

And finally, where should Cassie decide to work: London, Cleveland, Africa, France, Germany, or Australia?

Thanks for your patient and I hope understanding. The next chapter will be up before the New Year, it's the best I can do.


	19. Chapter 19

"Why did Daniel have to stay in Cleveland again?" Sam asked once they were heading down a street in London. She didn't understand why her friend couldn't come along only that Buffy had been firm in her answer of _no_.

"Somethings are meant for family only. And unless I'm mistaken, oh Danny boy wasn't kin to any of us." Faith chimed in from the backseat where she was lounging next to Xander. "Yo B, you have Red call ahead for us?"

"Nope." Buffy answered as she navigated the streets with ease. Xander had wanted to drive but since it was _her_ car that had been parked at the Airport, he didn't have any leverage to get the keys off her. "I want our visit to be a complete surprise." The closer they got to home the more anger she felt towards her surrogate father.

"Come on, Buff, slow down! Please!" Xander begged as he held on for his life. Buffy might have gotten her license, finally, but that didn't mean that she should have.

Faith chuckled. "You planning on blowing the roof off the place? Now that's my kind of party, B." She turned her head to look out the window at the passing buildings.

Sam didn't like the vibe she was getting from the younger blonde. She was tense, that much was obvious. And by the way she was holding onto the steering wheel, anger was bubbling just beneath the surface. "Blowing the roof off?" She directed her question to Xander, the only one not really saying anything.

Xander shifted in his seat. "Don't worry about it." It was his standard answer when he didn't want to explain something."It's personal." He added for good measure.

"Yeah, personal." Faith mumbled as they entered a parking garage and headed for the bottom level where all the NWC employees parked, founding members included.

Buffy snorted at Xander's choice of words as she pulled into her assigned parking spot. Opening the door, she climbed out and stretched her stiff limbs. "I'm sorry I couldn't allow your friend to come with us." She apologized to Sam when she joined her in stretching. "You'll understand why when we get inside." This was a promise. Turning her head to the side, she searched the parked cars for Giles'. Frowning, she noticed that his old clunker had been replaced by a brand new shiny Mercedes. Gritting her teeth, she walked over to the flawless car and promptly tore the mirror off the passenger side, threw it onto the ground, and stepped on it, several times over. This act made her feel, slightly, better. Now she could enter the building without committing homicide. "Lets go." She ordered then lead the way into the newly constructed building.

"She always this..." Sam didn't have a word for it as she fell into step beside her brother.

"Giles, that's our boss, betrayed Buffy before. The first time almost got her _and _her mother killed. The second time he tried to have her...fling of the moment killed. And the third time...the third time it was all of us that betrayed her. Sometimes I think that she hasn't really forgiven us, just moved on past the betrayal. Believe it or not, we used to be a hell of a lot closer than we are now. I'm just thankful that she's forgiven me enough to love me and let me love her." Xander told Sam in a whisper. "Giles is like a father to her, always has been, so that makes his betrayal even worse."

Sam jumped and spun around when she heard something shatter. She stared, wide eyed, as she watched Faith smash the windows out of the car that Buffy had just vandalized. "Are you crazy?!" What were the girls playing at?

Xander held out his arm to stop Sam from rushing forward. He didn't seem surprised that Faith was attacking the car with what looked like a tire iron. "He'll buy a new car." He assured his sister as he watched Faith toss her weapon of choice into the backseat of their car and slam the door shut. "This isn't the first time." He then turned, forcing Sam to do the same, and followed after Buffy.

"They've vandalized cars before?" Sam asked in disbelief. "And they weren't arrested?"

"We've all done it before." Xander told her as he stepped onto the elevator that Buffy was holding for them. "Better to leave your anger, aggression, and frustrations out here than to take them in with you."

"Better to take it out on a car than a person." Buffy said once Sam and Faith joined her and Xander in the elevator. She pushed the correct floor button and waited patiently for the doors to open. "You feeling better, Faith?"

Faith grinned at the older Slayer. "Five by five, B. Five by five." She crossed her arms over her chest. "How about you?"

Buffy shrugged. "The urge to give him a black eye is still strong but I think I can restrain myself."

"That's the spirit, Buff. Maiming and mangling your Watcher might make you feel better but it won't get you anywhere. He gotta be able to talk, after all." Xander said, cheerfully.

Sam blinked and shook her head. What had her brother gotten himself into? "Wait, you have a Watcher? Just how many of these Watchers are there?"

The elevator arriving and the doors opening was reason enough for Buffy not to answer the question. Instead she stepped out into the bustling corridor that was filled with Slayers of all ages being deployed with their older Watchers. "Welcome to the NWC!" She yelled over her shoulder as she was swallowed up by the crowd.

Xander took a deep breath and blew it out. "Feels damn good to be home." He mumbled as he steered Sam through the crowd. He even stopped to exchange pleasantries with his fellow Watchers. "Hey Frankie!" He yelled over the crowd to get the attention of one man in particular. "How'd India go?" He asked once the man stopped and turned.

Franklin Flagerty, a blonde hair, blue eyed, Irish Watcher grinned when he caught sight of who was calling his name. "Thought you had forgotten about me, Harris." He slapped the younger man on the back and nodded to the blonde standing beside him. "Our Intel was correct. We got there just in time to stop the nasty bugger from doing any real damage to the locals."

"How's Abigail? This was her first assignment, right?" Xander asked having forgotten about his sister for the moment. Right now he was in Senior Watcher mode.

"Abby was bloody brilliant. Only took her half a day to track the beast and dispose of it. I couldn't have asked for a better girl." Franklin said, proudly. "And she got out of it without a scrap on her."

Xander smiled. "Told you she was good." He started down the hallway again. "And to think you thought she was too young." He called over his shoulder.

Franklin rolled his eyes. "First rule of the trade, never judge a girl by her age, right Harris?" He turned and walked away.

Chuckling, Xander shook his head and lead Sam into one of the side rooms which turned out of be offices. "Abigail got herself a Watcher!" He announced.

"Abigail? Isn't she the one that threw her PW off a bridge in Spain because he wouldn't let her go shopping?" Faith asked in amusement. "Who'd you get to take her on for an actual assignment?"

"Flagerty, right?" Buffy asked from behind the large, metal, glass top desk. "He finally get passed her age?"

"Yup, said he couldn't have asked for a better girl. I think Abby will help him get over losing Amanda." Xander sounded sure of himself.

"Hello, remember me?" Sam chimed in. This was the most serious she had heard any of them and it was impressive. They sounded mature and professional. Whatever it was that they did here, it was obvious that these three were at the top of the food chain, so to speak. And it all made her uncomfortable.

Buffy blinked. "Nobody forgot about you." She dug around in her desk drawers until she found the right file. "You'll need to sign this before we go any farther." She tossed the file folder to Sam.

Sam caught it and opened it. "What is it?" She skimmed the information.

Faith tossed her coat onto Buffy's leather couch. "It's a standard non-disclosure agreement. It basically says that anything you see and/or hear here doesn't exist and if it somehow leaks into the public conscience then you'll be the first we look to, to blame. And if you're found guilty then not even the President can help you. You'll be jailed for crimes against the crown where you'll then be beheaded." She turned towards Buffy. "Nice touch, B. How'd you get that worked into the agreement?"

Xander spoke up before Buffy could. "I did it, actually. Buffy wanted disembowelment so I managed to get everybody to settle on beheading. It's still a fitting punishment but a little less gruesome."

"Beheading?" Sam was weary but took the pen her brother was offering her and signed all the necessary forms. "What now?" She asked as she handed the folder back across the desk to Buffy.

"Now? Now we find out how much Watcher mine knew about this whole situation." Buffy stood and moved around the desk where she then strode out of the room and down the corridor. This time the crowd of people parted the way for the stormy eyed Slayer and her companions.


	20. Chapter 20

By the time they had arrived at their destination, Sam was fairly certain that she couldn't find her way out of the building without the help of a guide. The building was huge to begin with then add in all the twists, turns, and elevator rides they had taken to make it even more confusing. She could safely say that the seemingly endless corridors of the SGC would be a welcome sight after this place.

As they approached Giles' private office, located on the top floor and most secure floor, Xander began to hang back from the two slayers, making sure Sam did the same. "They enter first." He told her in a lowered voice that left no room for argument.

"Why?" Sam wanted to know as she watched the two younger women share a look then pull open a large oak door at the end of the hallway that lead into a reception area. She followed only when Xander voiced his ok.

"Giles has been avoiding phone calls from all the Scoobies, they may be pissed at him, but they have to make sure he isn't compromised or in distress." Xander explained as they stepped into the room. He stopped when he noticed they weren't alone. "Dawnie!" A smile lit up his face when he caught sight of Buffy's little sister sitting on one of couches that lined the wall across from the receptionists desk.

"You're back!" Dawn said with a grin as she stood, stretching her long, lanky frame out, to embrace her surrogate brother. Pulling out of the hug, she moved onto her sister and finally Faith. Once she had greeted her family, she focused on the stranger, taking a moment to size her up. "Willow says you're Xander's sister, is that true?" She asked in a no nonsense voice as she placed her hands on her hips and waited for an answer.

Sam blinked at the protectiveness of the girls voice. "As far as we can tell it's true." She acknowledged then offered her hand as a peace offering. "Samantha Carter."

Dawn continued to stare. "I know." She smirked. "You're a Colonel with the United States Air Force." She took a step closer. "I know _everything_ about you." She lowered her and took the offered hand, squeezing. "You hurt Xander and I hurt you." She threatened, released the hand, and took a step back turning towards her sister. "Mary Alice said it'll be a couple of minutes before we can see him."

"Mary Alice?" Buffy raised an eyebrow as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Where's Ms. Jeanie Q. Bimbo?"

"Dunno. When I got here, Mary Alice was here. She looked a little frazzled and was mumbling something about utter chaos. She saw me, told me to have a seat and that it'd be a few minutes, then disappeared inside." Dawn motioned to the closed inner door that lead to the Head Watchers office.

"Chaos, huh?" Faith snorted. "When isn't it chaotic here? G-man always has this place in an uproar over one thing or another."

Buffy nodded in agreement. "I swear they like party when he leaves for _his _conferences." She rolled her eyes. "Everyone here knows what they're doing but he still gotta push. And he always finds something wrong with the techniques _his_ Watchers are using to train _my_ girls. The way he talks, you'd think I was their mother or something. I mean, I'm here to guide them, school them, not push them into teenage rebellion."

Xander chuckled. "He's already had three Watchers threaten to quit unless he lays off his snap inspections. They said he was making the girls so paranoid that they couldn't function. And we all know a non-functioning Slayer is a dead Slayer."

Mary Alice stepped back into the reception area and blinked. "Mister Giles is currently hiding in his office. I'm suppose to lie and tell anyone looking to see him that he's run off with a Scottish Barmaid." An mischievous smirk blossomed on her aged face. "Dear me, I've never been a good liar." She moved behind her desk and sat down. "He's in a right state in there. Said he's going to need a bodyguard when or if he decides to go home."

"Possibly, it depends." Buffy sighed and leaned against the desk. "What's going on Mary Alice? Why hasn't he been taking our calls?" She couldn't keep the hurt from her voice so she didn't even try.

"Mister Giles didn't know anyone was trying to get a hold of him until today. He was called out on an emergency in Istanbul and was gone for three days. When he returned he discovered that Jeanie had not only broken into his office and searched it but also didn't forward any of the messages. He was livid when he called me in and sent out one of the Knights to hunt down Ms. Kinsey." Mary Alice paused then lowered her voice. "Her treachery got one of the girls killed."

Faith's cocky little grin faded and she straightened up. "Who?" Both she and Buffy had girls out on missions. Girls they were personally responsible for, for one reason or another.

Mary Alice cringed, hating to be the bearer of such grim news. "Madeline." She turned kind eyes towards Buffy. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Summers."

Buffy was still, not moving a muscle as she absorbed the news. One of _her _girls was dead because of some receptionist? That just didn't sound right to her. "I..." She struggled to keep her emotions in check. Giles was always telling them not to get attached to the girls under their _command_ but it was an impossible task not to. "What happened? Do you know?"

Dawn moved to her sisters side and wrapped an arm around, giving her the strength to keep her facade in place. "She was the youngest of yours, right?" She asked in a low, painfilled, voice.

Clenching her jaw, Buffy nodded. "She was twelve." She whispered and closed her eyes, drawing in the comfort her sister was offering her.

"I have a granddaughter her age." Mary Alice whispered then looked down at the desk top. "Ms. Kinsey didn't forward her Watchers message. They needed backup but when none showed up they figured that the code orange threat level had been wrong and that she could handle it. Turns out that the threat level had been wrong. It should have been a code red instead of orange. There wasn't just one Sahrvin demon, there was three."

"Gods!" Dawn hissed. "Did the Knights find her?"

Mary Alice nodded. "Mister Giles is having trouble with the American Government. Seems that the girl is the youngest daughter of some former Government something-n-other. They won't send her back knowing what her punishment will be."

"Would that be Robert Kinsey?" Sam spoke up for the first time since Mary Alice's arrival. "Former Vice President Kinsey?" She had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.

"What the hell is the Vice President's daughter doing working for us?" Xander asked. Nobody worked for the NWC that had ties to any of the worlds Governing bodies. "How'd she get past our security checks?"

Buffy stared at Sam for a moment then focused on Xander. "It's former Vice President. He was kicked out of office a couple years ago. And she got passed out security because Giles vouched for her. He said they had been friends for a number of years and that she was in desperate need of employment. I don't think he started sleeping with her until later." She added as an afterthought. "You said she broke into his office and searched it? She take anything?"

"Besides a nasty shock when she tried to break into the secure files? No. She just tore the place apart and left." Mary Alice's face hardened. "Beheading isn't painful enough for her, Ms. Summers. You'll see to it that she's rightfully punished?" Her eyes darted between Buffy and Faith.

Xander stepped up beside Buffy and placed a hand on her arm. "We will." He promised.

Swallowing, Buffy nodded. "After we talk to Giles and get things sorted out, Faith will go and retrieve her, right Faith?"

"I'll bring her back, B, you can count on it. I'll even put a nice bow around her if you want." Faith ground out, clenching and unclenching her fists. Oh yes, she'd bring back Ms. Kinsey but no one said that the girl had to be unharmed; and no one would. When one of their own was hurt or killed, they closed ranks. And those responsible were found and punished. It might seem like a crude solution but it worked.

Mary Alice looked down as the buzzer sounded on her phone. "He'll see you know." She said as she looked up. "Go easy on him, loves, he thinks it's just Dawn out here not most of the Scoobies." She waved towards the doors as a latch turned and the doors swung open, partway.

Sam blinked and tilted her head to the side. How'd the doors do that? Open on their own? She pondered this question, amongst others, as she followed the group inside. After the last person entered, which was Xander, the doors swung closed and latched. A bad feeling indeed.


	21. Chapter 21

Xander blinked as the group moved further into the office. It was clear that Giles hadn't found the time to clean up the mess left behind by the snooping Jeanie Kinsey. Bookshelves, many of which Giles considered amongst his prize possessions, were tipped over and their contents, books and a variety of nick-knacks were scattered around on the floor, pages were torn from the books and the nick-knacks had been broken, stomped on by the looks of them. A chair looked as though it had been gutted, for what purpose he didn't know. But what drew his attention wasn't the mess, they all had seen worse, he just stepped over the broken pieces of wood and ceramics, but rather the only modern thing in the entire office, a fifty-two inch plasma tv that hung behind the large, antique, oak desk. It wasn't really the tv that had caught his attention, why would it, when it was he who had hung it?, but rather the picture that had been hastily drawn on its smooth surface with what looked like blue spray paint; a picture that he recognized. "I gotta say that I'm _not_ loving what you've done with the place, G-man. I mean, why should you get to redecorate when I can't?"

"I can assure you that this was _not_ my idea, Xander." Giles spun himself around in his chair, he had been facing the vandalized tv, to face the group. "I was told Dawn was waiting to speak to me but Mary Alice failed to mention that she wasn't alone."

"We just got here, G." Faith piped up, her cocky attitude firmly in place once again. "We wanted it to be a surprise so...surprise!" She threw her hands in the air then plopped down onto the undamaged chair. "Sorry we forgot the noisemakers. We was kinda planning on using you for that." She made herself comfortably by placing one leg over the arm of the chair and plopping her head up with her hand against the other arm.

Giles closed his eyes and sighed. It was never a good sign when Buffy was in a room and not saying a word. "I should have listened to you, Buffy." It was better to apologize now rather than later. Later would be reserved for groveling and begging on hands and knees. "Can you ever forgive me?" Silence greeted his apology and he was growing desperate. They had only recently gotten back their father/daughter relationship and he didn't want to lose that. "I should have taken your concerns about Jeanie seriously. If I hadn't been such a fool..." He removed his silver wire rimmed glasses and cleaned the lens with the corner of his rumpled blue button down shirt. Still silence greeted his words. "I place my life in your hands. Punish me as you see fit. But please...if my death is what you ask for as penance, make it quick and painless." He squeezed his eyes shut, giving her the chance to take her anger out on him. His eyes flew open when he felt his Slayer slam into his, sniffling. "I really am sorry, my dear." He whispered into her hair as he wrapped his arms around her small, yet solid, frame.

"Group hug!" Dawn squealed as she grabbed a hold of Xander and Faith and pulled them with her to assault the hugging pair. She hated it when her family fought, a rarity these days, but she hated it all the same.

Buffy pulled out of the smothering embrace and wiped her eyes, removing all races of her losing composure. "I'm glad we don't have to use you as a noisemaker, after all." She said, brightly, then turned her attention to the tv. "Is that what I think it is?" She asked after a moment of studying the image.

"I'm afraid so." Giles said with a frown as she stood and moved until he was beside her.

"Riley is so getting a piece of my mind when he next checks in!" Buffy stomped her foot, an action that made her look younger than she really was. "_He's _supposed to be locked away at Area fifty-one! Riley promised that he'd never see the light of day _and _that the scientists would perform all kinds of nasty, painful, gruesome, experiments on him!" She ranted. "If he lied to me I'm so going to..." She trailed off thinking of something she could do to her ex. "I'm going to force him to give me his first born!" It was the only thing she could think of but it'd do.

"You're going to make him give you your Godson? For how long? An afternoon?" Xander rolled his eyes at her. "You'd never hurt Ashton and you know it, slugger. You're nothing but a big softy." He slung an arm over her shoulder. "I thought he'd be, you know, dead by now? All the military would have to do is kill him and say he never existed. Just like they claim Area fifty-one, or should I say the rehabilitation facility, doesn't exist and we all know how _true_ that is."

"You've been to Area fifty-one?" Sam couldn't keep quiet anymore. She had too many questions and absolutely no answers to any of them.

Giles eyed the younger man for a moment. "We were told never to speak of you visit or have you forgotten all those forms they forced us to sign?" Blinking he finally noticed that the Scoobies weren't alone. "Oh, hello." He looked from Buffy to Xander then back again. "Care to introduce me?"

Buffy had forgotten about Sam in all the commotion. "Giles, this is Samantha Carter. Sam, this is Rupert Giles. Sam's with the USAF." She explained as she motioned to the older blonde.

"The Air Force?" Giles held out his hand in confusion. "I wasn't aware of any meetings with the Air Force scheduled for today." He frowned in concentration. "I thought our yearly status meeting wasn't until next month?" His question was directed to Buffy who knew the schedule better than all of them, which was surprising.

Sam took the offered hand and shook it. "Doctor Rupert Giles?" She questioned. Could this be the same man Daniel had spoken of before.

"_That_ meeting isn't until next month, Giles. Sam isn't here on behalf of the Air Force. She's here because...well...she wouldn't take no for an answer." Buffy told him.

Giles startled as he dropped her hand. "I...you've heard of me?" He asked, wearily. Not many people had heard of him and those that had were all involved in his life of work. "What answer? I seem to be missing some facts, Buffy. Would someone care to fill me in?"

Faith straightened up in the chair. "Blondie over there is Long John's big sis. Or that's what they think." She had a way of explaining things that everyone could understand.

"I wasn't aware that you had any siblings, Xander." Giles focused his attention on the younger man who was looking slightly uncomfortable.

Xander shifted from foot to foot as he glared at Faith. "_Don't_ call me Long John! I am not a fast food fish place!" He shot her one last look before focusing on Giles. "I wasn't aware I had any siblings either until a nice lady from New York called to tell me that I was adopted many a years ago."

Dawn gave Xander a look. "Are you sure she wasn't a demon? Or maybe something evil? I mean, lets face it Xand, you don't have the best of luck with women."

Buffy shot him a triumphant look. "That's so what I said!" She moved out from under Xander's arm and wrapped her arm around her sisters waist. "Us Summers' rock!" She gloated and stuck her tongue out at him. "But I went with him to see her and my spider sense didn't go all tingly. So she was human." She sounded slightly put out by this fact.

Giles waited for the girls to finish before continuing. "So I take it that Samantha is your biological sister? May I ask who your biological parents are?"

"That's why we're here, actually. My parents are Jacob Carter and Marie Erickson Carter. Jacob served with Dad...eh...Anthony in the Air Force or so Sam says. Anyways, does the name Erickson ring any bells with you?" Xander asked.

"Marie Erickson, did you say?" Giles took his glasses off and began to polish them again as he searched his memory. "It couldn't be..." He put his glasses on and moved back around his desk and pulled open his desk drawer, the magic sensed him as the rightful owner of the desk and left him open it without harm. He skimmed over several files before pulling the one he was looking for out and flipping it open. "SW Erickson was killed on December ninth, nineteen-eighty. She's survived by a husband, Jacob, USAF, and two children, Mark, fourteen, and Samantha, twelve. Neither child is listed as her successor but both are listed as potential candidates for the program ." He looked up. "It says here that her title was to be passed to her youngest child, a son, unnamed at the time." He handed the file to Xander. "There are several pages missing, I can only guess who took them or why they were removed."

"Look." Buffy pointed to a paragraph near the bottom of the page. "It says here that the Erickson child's guardian had been declared unfit by the Council and that actions were taken to rectify that. Those son of a bitches!" She growled. "If there weren't already dead I'd kill them!"

"What does that mean? Actions were taken to rectify that? And what is the Council?" Sam asked, tired of being ignored or forgotten about, which she wasn't sure.

Buffy held up a hand signaling that she wanted to explain. "It means Jacob was found wanting in the eyes of the high and mighty Council. They felt your Father wouldn't raise him to follow in your mothers footsteps therefore they solved the problem before it actually became one. They just took him and placed him with a family of their choosing. A family that would raise him however they said."

Sam frowned. "What is the Council?" She had never heard of it and if it was so...cruel as to take a child away from it's family, then why was her mother working for them in the first place?

Xander closed the file and handed it back to Giles. "We're the Council." He motioned around the room. "Well, the new Council anyways. Most of the old members were killed a number of years ago in an explosion. This whole building went kaboom. Terrorist attack." He hurried to explain.

"I bet it was Quentin Travers who ordered it." Buffy growled. "I knew I hated that man for a reason other than trying to get me and my mom killed! Always thinking he was so high and mighty. Well...look what that got him. Blown up! And he deserved it too! Maybe the others didn't but he did. How dare he play God!" She was shaking with anger now. She needed to vent.

Giles watched his Slayer grow angry. "My car is in the parking garage." He pointed out.

Buffy nodded, stiffly, and rushed from the office. She needed to hit something, hard. Very hard.

"Go with her, Faith. Make sure she doesn't hurt herself, will you?" Giles asked in a tired tone of voice. "Maybe you should have a seat, Ms. Carter. There is a great deal we must explain to you about what we do here and what part your brother plays." He motioned towards the chair Faith vacated to follow after Buffy. "Dawn, would you like to begin?" He asked.

"Okay." Sam moved over to the chair and took a seat. Not for the first time since she met Xander Harris and Buffy Summers did she think she had somehow found herself in the twilight zone.

"Sure think, Giles." Dawn moved until she was leaning against the desk in front of Sam. "In every generation there is a Chosen One..."


	22. Chapter 22

Faith spotted Buffy as soon as she reached the parking garage. The other Slayer was sitting with her back against the front bumper of Giles' car. "Did the car win, B?" She asked as she sat down beside Buffy.

Buffy sighed and pulled her knees up to chest where she then wrapped her arms around them. "I wanted to hit something so bad when I left Giles' office but by the time I got here..." She trailed off and shrugged.

"Yeah, anger has that aftereffect sometimes." Faith leaned her head back against the car and turned it to face Buffy. "You're anger isn't all directed at the old Council or even Travers, is it?"

"No." Buffy knew that lying to her sister Slayer would be useless. The two of them had some sort of bond that the other Slayers didn't share with them or even each other.

Faith closed her eyes and a comfortable silence fell over them. She missed spending time with Buffy; even silent time. "I'm all ears if you wanna talk about it." She offered after several minutes of quiet.

Buffy tightened her arms around her knees. "I'm confused and I'm _never_ confused. I guess my confusion at my being confused is making me angry and frustrated. Am I a bad person for feeling like this?"

"Like what? Gotta give me a little more to go on, B." Faith opened her eyes only to come face to face with painfilled green ones. Buffy had turned her head and was now staring at her.

"Like my whole world is falling apart? Like I hate Samantha Carter for the simple reason that she shares DNA with Xander? Or how about the fact that I resent Xander for getting a second chance at family? We're the good guys, Faith, we don't get the fairy tale second chance." Buffy hated herself for saying all that out loud.

Faith studied the blonde for a moment. "It's okay to be jealous, B. If anyone deserves a second chance at family it's you. So what makes Xander so special? Why him out of all of us? Sure, his parents were alcoholics but they both were around. So what if they ignored him most of time, at least they didn't beat him or leave him, right? And now they're dead and he gets a brand spanking new set. I totally agree that this is not how the world works. It's cold, bitter, and cruel. Not forgiving and...and..." She snorted feeling Buffy's bitterness at the situation. It truly wasn't fair.

Buffy knew Faith would understand. "I love him so much, Faith, but right now...right now I want to lock myself away in a room and never come out until the PTB make everything right. I want to just disappear until my mom comes back and my Dad stops being an asshole but I know that'll never happen. I know that my family, my _true_ family, is inside that building and in Cleveland and...sitting beside me. I don't get a do over so why should _he_?" She buried her face in her knees and sobbed.

"Oh, Buffy." Faith scooted closer and wrapped her arms around the blonde. "Everything will be okay, I promise. Xander would never abandon us, any of us, especially you. He's an original Scooby, right? And the Scoobies are forever. Once a member, always a member. You told me that, remember? It was the day after our big fight to the death with the First and we were hold up in that crummy hotel just outside L.A. We stuffed ourselves with vending machine candy and cheap ass soda then watched some old black and white movie on the tv that should have been in the Smithsonian. And on that night you told me that I was one of you. That I had always had a place with the Scoobs, all I had to do was take it. Once a Scooby, always a Scooby. I think I actually cried that night."

"I remember." Buffy whispered and wrapped her arms around her leather clad friend. "I hope your right Faith, because I couldn't take losing another boyfriend. Especially one that's my best friend. I think I'd just wither away and cease to exist."

Faith rested her head atop of the older girls. "Not gonna happen, B. I won't let that happen, I promise. And if it comes to it, I'll personally break ever single bone in Xander's body. That outta teach him to mess with us Slayers, right?"

Buffy smiled and nodded her head. "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that, okay? For right now I just want to believe Xander is one of the good guys and that he loves me with all his heart. I want to believe that the man I love is the man he was suppose to be and not one created by some secret organization. We can live in the real world later, maybe tomorrow or next Monday."

"Sounds like a plan, B. Sounds like a plan." Faith just held Buffy as silence once again descended around them. And for the first time in her life she prayed that Xander was, indeed, everything Buffy thought he was. Because she was sure she wouldn't be the only one out for blood if he ended up hurting Buffy. Giles would be right up at the top with her followed by Dawn and then Willow. Xander would be well and truly punished for any heartache he caused.

* * *

Dawn was frowning when she returned to Giles' office having been sent to check on Faith and her sister. "She's gone, Giles." She wasn't even able to look at Xander when she made he announcement.

"Gone? Gone where?" Giles once again removed his glasses and gave them a good polish. He had a fairly good idea where his slayer had gone but didn't want to think about it and what it could mean for his surrogate daughter.

Sam tilted her head to the side trying to understand what was going on. Her head was still reeling from the information just given to her. The implications were...well...she didn't want to think about it right now or head would explode. "Buffy's gone?"

"She's gone off with Faith, hasn't she? They've gone to get Jeanie, right?" Xander sighed and started to clean up the mess that had once been Giles office.

"Yeah." Dawn said, unhappily. Though she was unhappy and slightly ticked off at her sister for the sudden decision to go with Faith, she also understood. "She said they'd be back in a couple days."

Giles watched the younger man and couldn't help but smile. "About time." He mumbled under his breath. "You cannot fault her, Xander." He stated, quietly. "Buffy has always been close to her charges, especially Madeline. The little girl looked up to her as a little sister would. And I'm certain that Buffy felt the same way. To her, losing Madeline is no different than losing Dawn. Give her time to process everything and then she'll be back, as good as new." Or so he hoped. "This will give you a chance to catch up with your sister, show her around, and explain what you do."

"So you all are just going to let them go and bring her back? Aren't you afraid that they'll harm Jeanie Kinsey?" Sam wanted to know. She wasn't used to being treated as an outsider. She was usually the one with the huge secret that nobody could know. Now the tables had been turned on her and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

Xander tossed a broken vase into the garbage can and brushed his hands off on the legs of his pants. "Ms. Kinsey's life was forfeit the minute she made the decision that got one of our girls killed. It doesn't matter who carries out the punishment, as long as it's carried out." Thus was life within the Council. "And Buffy has the right to play ax-man." His words were quiet but true. They also made his guts twist. Up until now Buffy had avoided becoming involved in the punishment of mortals that had broken the rules set up by the NWC. And up until now she had held true to her ideals, you don't kill humans, period, end of story. He actually felt fear for the woman he loved because once she started down Faith's path...well he just didn't want to think about how much Buffy could change.

Sam swallowed. Until now, in her eyes, this group was nothing more than a bunch of young people doing something incredibly unbelievable. Now she saw the darker side of what they did and it scared her at how accepting they were. "So you're going to let her murder the girl without a trial or a chance to explain her actions? I won't stand for it, Mr. Giles! I don't know what you've done to these children to make them so...compliant, but now that I know my brother exists, I won't allow it to continue." It was a promise.

"You have no course of action, my dear." Giles told her, calmly, as he picked up one of his undamaged books and began to examine it. "Our actions are sanctioned by all the major governments of the world and even some of the smaller less known ones. We keep them safe, you see? And in order to do that we can't operate within the laws set up for the general populus. We have our own codes and laws that have worked for hundreds of years, a complaint by you isn't going to change that. As for Xander...he isn't a child. No one forced him to become a Watcher. That is who he evolved into over the years. If you don't like it, then I'm afraid that's your problem." He was very blunt, wanting her to know that no matter what she did, it wouldn't matter.

Dawn narrowed her eyes at the blonde. Who did she think she was? "You can't talk to him like that!" She hissed at the blonde, taking a step towards her. "How can you judge him when you don't even know him, hm? What gives you the right to interfere?" She was quiet for a moment trying to get herself under control. "You wanna know what he did to us? He loved us. Plain and simple. Giles loved us when no one else would or could. He looked after Buffy and I when mom died and dad wouldn't step up to the plate. He helped Xander become the man he is today when he own parents didn't have the time of day for him. He helped Willow evolve into a wonderful human being when her own parents didn't even know she existed or didn't care to listen. _That's_ what he did to us." She sneered a sneer worthy of Faith.

"That's enough, Dawn." Xander chided her but couldn't help but feel proud of her for standing up for their little family. He turned his attention to his sister. "I know this is a lot to take in but this is my life and that isn't going to change. If you can't accept that then I suggest you forget about me even existing because I've had a good family for a number of years now. Blood doesn't make a family; love, respect, caring, and understand does." With that said he continued to help clean up. He just hoped Buffy would be okay.


	23. Chapter 23

**_Two Weeks Later_**

The night is inky black and no stars shine in the sky. It's unforgivably chilly and the winds blowing about wasn't helping the below zero temperature to feel any warmer . It was an hour until midnight and all was quiet on the streets of London. A simple spell cast by one of the coven made sure that the upcoming ceremony wouldn't be disturbed. Justice would be carried out swiftly at the stroke of midnight.

Soon a crowd was being to form at the base of the Tower of London; some were bundled in layers of cold weather gear to ward off the chill while others were wearing simple white tunics with a red cross on the chest. And one person amongst them all wore a black robe with the hood pulled up and carried a very old tome of some sorts. "LET THE ACCUSED STAND BEFORE ME AND RECEIVE JUDGMENT!" The black robed figures voice carried over the wind and echoed off darkened buildings.

At the mans words and in a flash of white light a small group appeared in the darkness; the group consisted of Buffy, Faith, the condemned, and two Knights of the Cross. Buffy hauled the bruised, battered, and bloody form of Jeanie Kinsey out of the shadows by a silver chain, that was attached to her hands via thick manacles and her feet via equally thick shackles, and yanked her towards her fate. "Walk!" She hissed just loud enough for the prisoner to hear. She only stopped once they reached the man in the black robe.

Faith sauntered out of the shadows behind Buffy and the prisoner. And behind her came the two Knights of the Cross that had captured the condemned and smuggled her back into Great Britain; the American Government had refused to _officially_ hand over the former Vice Presidents youngest child, knowing her fate, but they were more than willing to turn a blind eye to an _unofficial_ extradition if it meant keeping the peace with the NWC .

Xander arrived later than he wanted but an argument with his sister about tonight's proceedings had delayed him. And the argument only ended when it did because he promised that she could come along but _only_ if she didn't interfere. He knew it was a bad idea to bring Sam but he knew she wouldn't let well enough alone and sneaking, uninvited or unescorted, to a midnight Judgment was an offense that held some pretty severe punishments. It took them a few moments to get through the gathered crowd of Watchers and Slayers and he stopped only when he reached Giles and Dawn who were standing beside the Knights that had come to observe not participate.

Opening his tome, the man in the black robe, The Elder of Justice, began to read aloud in Latin; his voice carried though the night. Cold black eyes surveyed the spit of a girl standing in front of him, shivering and favoring her right leg. "Ms. Jeanie Kinsey you have broken one of our most scared laws, do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"My father will see to it that you all pay for this." Ms. Jeanie Kinsey had decided to speak after two whole weeks of absolute silence. "Better to spare me now than face his wrath later." Her voice was arrogant and it was clear that she felt no remorse for what she did.

"Then that settles it, doesn't it?" Faith stepped forward and kicked the girl in the back of the knees forcing her to kneel. Leaning down she whispered into her ear. "Your father couldn't save your life and you honestly think he has any power to make us pay or otherwise?" She stood back up but didn't move from her spot. "Must we continue with this ruse, Elder? She's guilty. End. Of. Story!"

"What say you Alpha?" The Elder addressed Buffy without looking at her. "Your Beta has already voiced her vote. Do you agree?" It was all just ceremony, the sentence of death had already been passed.

Buffy didn't hesitate as she would have in the past. "She is guilty and I ask that you show no mercy as she showed none to Madeline." Her voice was cold and devoid of all emotion. No one but Faith knew how close she came to breaking the _we don't kill humans_ rule. It would have been so easy for her to step over the line and never look back; she knew Faith wouldn't have judged her.

The Elder nodded his head slightly. "Then the vote has been cast and the sentence of death without mercy stands." He turned to address the crowd. "Ms. Jeanie Kinsey has been found guilty of high treason, and is, in accordance with our most ancient laws, hereby sentenced to burn here on this night the twentieth day of January in the year two-thousand and ten of our Lord." He turned back to the condemned. "May whatever Gods you hold dear judge you and find you wanting." He then turned to the Slayers. "You have done your duty Alpha and Beta please step aside knowing that your sister has been avenged."

As one Buffy and Faith backed away from the girl while the two Knights took their places newly lit torches in their hands and grim looks on their faces.

With wide eyes Ms. Jeanie Kinsey began to beg for her life but her pleas fell on deaf ears. No one had any sympathy for the girl that had gotten of their own killed.

Somewhere in the distance church bells were tolling signaling that it was midnight and halfway through the tolling the screaming began and was over by the last. The night was once again silent. Justice for one little girls untimely and completely avoidable death had been passed. The spirits could rest easy now.


	24. Chapter 24

**One Year Later**

"She's poisoned him against us Giles!" Buffy told her surrogate father with tears in her eyes. "He doesn't even want to come home anymore." Her voice dropped to below a whisper as she sunk into an over-sized chair.

Giles sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Xander had severely disappointed him over this past year. First he neglected his duties as Watcher now he was treating them all, Buffy most of all, like strangers. He had no doubt in his mind that Samantha Carter was to blame for the young mans change in personality. "I am so sorry Buffy." He moved out from behind his desk and knelt down beside her.

Buffy nodded and bit her bottom lip. "So am I Giles." She whispered then made a decision she had been putting off for weeks now. "I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?" Giles stood up and began to clean his glasses on the edge of his shirt. "Are you certain?" He questioned after a moment.

"Doc Callaway confirmed it a couple weeks ago. What am I gonna do? I saw how much mom struggled with being a single parent and swore I'd never put a child through that. But what choice do I have when its father won't even return my calls?" Buffy felt her heart break all over again.

Giles sat down in the chair beside her. "You are _not_ alone." He stressed. "We're a family and families take care of their own" He took a breath gathering his thoughts. "I never thought Xander of all people would turn into a right tosser but he is proving me wrong on a lot of things these days. I want you to go and stay with Willow. Can you do that for me?" He knew the red head would take good care of her best friend.

Buffy continued to chew on her bottom lip but nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. What are you gonna do?" She knew the look in his eyes.

"I'm going to find out why Xander is being a wanker. I'll go through the President of the United States if I have to. And if that doesn't work I'll let Faith handle him. There will be no place in heaven or hell he'll be able to hide from a pissed off Faith." Giles gave her an encouraging smile.

"Am I so repulsive that Xander can't even stand to be around me?" Buffy asked in a small voice as a fresh wave of tears ran down her cheeks.

Giles pulled the heartbroken Buffy into a hug. "No my dear, you are as beautiful as ever. Go pack your things and I'll have Willow book you on the next flight out." He stood and lead her to the door. "Things will get better. I promise." Once she had disappeared up the stairs he closed his office door and took a deep breath. Calmly he moved over to his phone and dialed Xander's cell number.

Xander laughed at the joke his father just got done telling. "Gotta remember that one." He wiped his eyes. For the first time in his life he felt content and the feeling surprised him. Looking around he smiled at his brother Mark playing on the floor with his daughter. Sam was in the kitchen and he and his father were occupying two chairs in the living room. The sound of his cell chirping interrupted his peace and with a grunt flipped it open. "G-Man how's it hanging?" He greeted.

"You idiot! Do you realize what you have done?" Giles couldn't contain his anger at hearing the younger mans voice.

"Huh?" The feeling of peace left him in a hurry and he sat up straighter in the chair. "What are you talking about?" Xander knew Giles was only snippy when something was wrong. "Is there something wrong with Buffy?" He asked panicked. He hadn't heard from her for a while but he assumed if something was wrong she would have called.

Giles snorted into the phone. "Like you bloody well care!" He spit out.

Xander stood and began to pace around the living room drawing the attention of not only his brother but his father as well. "Of course I care! What's wrong?"

"Do you honestly take me for a fool? Or Buffy for that matter? If you cared about her at all you wouldn't be ignoring her! She's given us a second chance but I don't see her doing that again you bloody little fool!" Giles ranted.

Stopping Xander frowned at the phone in his hand before placing it back to his ear. "I still don't know what you are talking about! Just tell me! Please?" He all but begged.

Giles began pacing around his office. "When you requested time off to reconnect with your family I gladly signed the papers. When you asked for your girls to be assigned temporary Watchers I didn't question you. But now I'm thinking I should have. You were the one that begged me to train you in the ways of the Watcher. That wasn't forced on you. You chose to have this life and you just can't toss it aside because you've found something better!"

Xander felt a cold dread settle in the pit of his stomach. Something was very very wrong. "I'm confused Giles."

"Yes well maybe I can enlighten you. Buffy is fine physically but mentally and emotionally she's a wreck. She's going away for awhile; to get away from you. I suggest you make a decision soon because as I see it you've already chosen your new family over this one." Giles told him bluntly.

"I haven't chosen anyone! Why would you think that?" Xander really was trying to understand but when Giles was pissed off he rarely made sense to anyone but himself. "And why does she need to get away from me?"

Giles frowned. "Perhaps because you've not only been ignoring calls from your girls but from Buffy as well. I thought you different Xander but I am saddened to see that I was wrong. So very wrong."

Xander shook his head. "No one has called me Giles. Buffy and I had a fight before I left this last time and I assumed she just needed some space as for the girls….I assumed their temps were handling things just fine." Now that he thought about it it did seem odd that he hadn't gotten one phone call from his friends or his charges. "I swear I haven't gotten any calls from anybody!"

"Excuses Xander." Giles told him simply too angry to believe him. "Starting now you're on suspension pending review." He hesitated upon telling him anything about Buffy. "I suggest you get your act together or your child will grow up hating you as you grew up hating the man you thought to be your father." With that said he hung up and called Willow to make arrangements for Buffy to stay with her and Jethro.

"My child?" Xander whispered numbly into the dial tone. He looked up into the concerned eyes of his father. "I'm going to be a daddy." He told the older man. "I'm going to be a daddy and Buffy thinks I want nothing to do with her and by extension the baby." How could this have happened? Looking down at his phone he wondered why he hadn't gotten any of the calls Giles spoke of.

"I'm going to be a grandfather?" Jacob asked with a small smile which faded when Xander continued to stare at his phone. "Son?"

Xander swallowed hard trying to dislodge the lump that had formed in his throat. "I think someone tampered with my phone." He told his father quietly. "I haven't been getting any phone calls from my family."

"What's wrong?" Sam asked as she entered the living room. "What happened?" She asked her father.

Jacob felt his heart break for his son. He knew what it was like to lose a child. "He hasn't been getting phone calls from home. Apparently Buffy's been trying to call and tell him she's pregnant but none of the calls are getting though." Seeing the look on his daughters face he knew she had done something incredibly stupid. "Sam?"

"I left my phone at your house." Xander focused angry eyes onto his sister. "You said it took you two days to find it. What did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?" He was on his feet and in her face in a flash.

Sam was an Air Force Officer and wasn't about to let her little brother intimidate her. "Those people are bad. They brained washed you Xander and I couldn't sit back and let it continue!" She defended her now ill conceived plan to protect him.

Xander's eyes went cold. "Brain washed me? They saved me! Why can't you see that? Willow and Jesse were my only friends growing up. And when I met Buffy….I felt like I was seeing the world for the first time. Being friends with her gave me the courage to stand up to my abusive father and neglectful mother. I became the man I am today because of _those people_. You're no better than Travers!"

"And the fact that you think nothing was wrong with what happened _that_ night proves me right! You just stood by and let that girl be burned alive!" Sam angrily told him.

"And I told you that you had no business there! This is my life and my world. We have our own rules and for good reason. Prisons and trials don't work for what we deal with! But our own brand of justice does. We aren't vigilantes. The counties, including the US, that we operate in knows what we do and they give us diplomatic immunity so we can do our jobs. You have no right to interfere. None! Now you may have cost me the chance at a family. May have cost me my child because you think you know what is right. Well I got a news flash for you Samantha Carter, you're not always right. You don't always know what is best. And you need keep your nose out of my business before you get it cut off!" He stormed to the door and yanked it open. "I didn't even want to find you, did you know that?" He asked turning to face them. "It was Buffy that talked me into it. Said she didn't want me to have any regrets down the road. Knew how badly I wanted a family. I got my family all right but I do regret it because I've loved Buffy since the moment I laid eyes on her in High School. Now because of you I may have lost her for good." He slammed the door shut behind him when he left.

"He's a grown man Sammy. What made you think you could decide his life for him?" Mark asked from his place on the floor.

Sam glared at her big brother. "You weren't there!" She threw her hands in the air and sat down on her couch. "You didn't see how _accepting_ they all were of what was going on. They even went out and had coffee afterward like they hadn't just watched a girl burn alive! Do you honestly want Xander around those kind of people? Dad?"

"Like your brother said Xander is a grown man. Those kind of people, as you put it, have been his family far longer than us. Is it far that we demand he change his whole life just to be included in ours? And you can't be apart of his if you keep judging him. From what he told me about that night that girl wasn't innocent. She acted with malice and in doing so got a young girl killed. A death that could have been totally avoided. And their punishment might seem harsh to us but they wouldn't have done it if it wasn't necessary. I don't believe they are cold blooded killers." Jacob rationally told his only daughter. When Xander first told about his life and job he hadn't completely believed him. Vampires? Really? But then his youngest son had shown him the proof he needed and he was still trying to wrap his mind around the world his son was involved in. The very world that his wife had kept hidden from him for years.

Mark stood and picked up his dozing daughter. "I'm gonna head home and put Libby to bed. I'll talk to you later." Grabbed his coat and maneuvered it on then did the same for Libby. "Stop pushing Xander so hard sis because I get the feeling if he has to choose between us and them….he's going to pick them especially with a child involved; his child. And we'll lose not only our baby brother, all over again, but our niece or nephew as well." With that said he left.

Jacob ignored Selmak's comments. "I know you like having all the information but you need to stop treating his friends like the enemy because I'm certain if they were the governments of the world wouldn't let them do what they do. All I'm asking is that you be a little more tolerate of his world. And for heavens sake don't mess around with his phone again. I don't want to lose my son again Sam. I'm not on Earth much but when I am I enjoy spending time with him and getting to know him. And I'd like to have that chance with my grandchild."

"It was just so brutal dad. There were little girls there, watching, and I could see the pleasure in their eyes when Kinsey's daughter started to burn, started to scream. I could see _it_ in Xander's eye. And when it was over and she stopped screaming….it was like nothing ever happened. There was no body, no ash, no nothing. And then they went and got coffee and I watched them joking and laughing over their caramel mocha lattes and cappuccinos as if they hadn't just watched the horrific event. I wanted to throw up and they were bickering over what type of scones to get. It was all so….senseless." Sam leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes.

"Senseless to you maybe but not to them. The loss of a child, even if the child is only your ward, is a difficult thing. And each and every young person that Xander considers family has seen more than their fair share of death. But the death of a child….it's not something you get over. Those people are doing an amazing thing. Some of them didn't really have a choice in the matter but yet they are still fighting and teaching others to fight so that no more children, no more innocents, have to die. You help keep the galaxy safe and in turn Earth but their sole duty had been and always will be this planet and her people. Just try to put yourself in their shoes okay?" Jacob pushed himself to his feet. "I better get back to the base I'm needed at a council meeting in the morning."

Sam stood and embraced her once estranged father. "Love you." She released him and stepped back. "Be safe."

Jacob gave his daughter a lopsided smile as he hugged her back then left go. "Love you too." He grabbed his coat on his way to the door. "I'll see you next time I visit. I should be able to get away at the end of the month." He then pulled open the door and stepped out into the chilly Colorado air.

"I can't wait." Sam gave him a small smile and shut the door behind him. Sighing she sat back on her couch and ran a hand through her hair. She really was only trying to do what was best for her little brother but maybe she did go a little far by tampering with his phone. As she sat there she began to wonder if she'd ever see Xander again or if she had irreparably damaged their newly formed relationship.

Meanwhile Xander was rushing through the airport trying to catch the last flight, of the night, heading for London. He had to catch Buffy before she disappeared because with their means and connections he'd never find her unless she wanted found. "Come on!" He huffed to himself as he sprinted towards the open hatch and squeezed in just as the Flight Attendant was closing it. "Thanks!" He called as he quickly searched for his seat, sat down, and buckled up. Taking a deep breath he prayed to whatever Gods were listening on that particular day that he'd make it in time to explain what had happened.

* * *

**Authors Note**

Okay so this isn't how I wanted this chapter to go but it kinda wrote itself and since I was having writers block I just left it go. So tell me what you think and go ahead and throw tomatoes at my muse if you hate it.


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